Undertaking
by Simmikke
Summary: After getting out from the Underground, Frisk and the others face real-world trials that await them, as well as some past memories that seem to cause chaos no matter what. An old friend comes back to kill Sans, and humans don't take well to the monsters. Slice of life. (SPOILERS, SansxFrisk, androgynous Frisk, rated M just in case. Some Angst. Reader discretion is advised)
1. End of an Old Era

Author's note

Hello readers! This is my first fanfic, so be nice. Anyways! SPOILERS AHEAD! This fic is heavily based on all of the Undertale endings, as well as containing a lot of in-game references. I'm sure a lot of you will love them. Before you read on, I have to stress a few things: Frisk is androgynous mostly, but I side with them being more of a male, so if I slip up, sorry! It will happen! This fic will also contain relationships, some including Sans x Frisk, Papyrus x Mettaton, and the canon Undyne x Alphys of course. I will TRY to be as canon as possible. The entire first chapter is canon. Last thing to say, this is after Frisk defeats Asriel in the True Pacifist ending (Well, when he begins to defeat). Enjoy!

(Many Thanks to Lucky D and Alkirian)

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Frisk repeatedly wanted to save Asriel. They knew one last soul remained in him. It cried out, needing aid. It was almost childlike, warm, and nice, still in the giant, winged demon goat. They tried to save this small soul, causing the powerful, magical being in front of them to question their actions.

"Wh… What did you do? What's this feeling? What's happening to me?" Asriel demanded to know, feeling a tightness in his chest, almost like something was tugging at his heart. "No! No, I don't need ANYONE!" He exclaimed as he hit Frisk with a full-force scattering attack. Frisk couldn't do anything but desperately try to dodge the attacks, but to no avail. They huffed, but stayed determined, trying to save the soul once again after the barrage of attacks.

"STOP IT! Get away from me! Do you hear me?! I'll tear you apart!" Asriel half-heartedly cried out, unleashing a second magic attack similar to the first one but with half power. Frisk hardly had to dodge this attack, and they knew that Asriel was starting to give. They tried again to save the soul.

"…Chara, do you know why I'm doing this…? Why I keep fighting to keep you around…?" The goat heaved with a sigh, giving out a small attack, but avoiding to hit the human. Frisk still called out to the goat's lost soul. In response, a sad Asriel replied, "I'm doing this… Because you're special, Chara. You're the only one that understands me. You're the only one who's any fun to play with anymore." He looked at Frisk with a serious, yet solemn expression, attacking again with no force. Frisk nodded in response, standing still among the attacks floating around them.

"… No. That's not JUST it. I… I… I'm doing this because I care about you, Chara! I care about you more than anyone else!" Asriel let out a light sob, and threw yet another weak attack, not wanting to hurt the person in front of him. Frisk stood there still, feeling their own heart wanting to break, hearing the confession of the monster in front of him. This filled them with even more determination, to SAVE Asriel's soul!

"I'm not ready for this to end. I'm not ready for you to leave. I'm not ready to say goodbye to someone like you again…" Hyperventilating, feelings rising up, Asriel let out his last weak attack unto the unrelenting human. Frisk wiped a tear forming on the corner of their eye. This was it. These were the final moments they would call out to a dear lost soul. They stood their ground and tried to save the soul for good.

Asriel couldn't take it anymore; he just couldn't hold in the pressure of his soul trying to break free of the sadistic bonds he held. Speaking through his uncontrollable sobs, he cried out, " _So please,_ **STOP** _doing this… AND JUST LET ME WIN!"_ Asriel yelled as he supercharged huge orbs of attack energy onto his hands, and released his final attack onto the human. The rainbow energy surrounded Frisk, as they took all of the damage head on, facing their final foe. They could feel themselves almost dying, their soul struggling to hold onto dear life.

" _STOP IT!"_ Asriel screamed his throat raw, pounding into his rival all of his last remnants of power. Frisk felt their being almost sucked out. " _STOP IT NOW!"_ The wave of the attack struck out at full force, before finally stopping. Frisk inhaled deeply, and yelled to save the soul of Asriel with every ounce of their being.

"Chara… I'm so alone, Chara… I'm so afraid, Chara…" Asriel let out a final breath, and he heard Frisk call out for the last time. "I…"

And then, there was nothing. Asriel had exhausted all of his power onto Frisk, all of his emotions spilled out of him, and he dematerialized into the small goat child that Frisk knew was there all along. The poor kid cried uncontrollably in front of him, wearing their old friend's striped sweater.

"I'm so sorry. I was always a crybaby, wasn't I, Chara?" He looked up at Frisk with puffy, watery eyes. "… I know. You're not actually Chara, are you? Chara's been gone for a long time." Asriel scrunched up his tiny face. He watched the human in front of him again, only to see them nodding their head in response. "Um… What… What IS your name?" The human smiled at the child sweetly, and simply said, "Frisk."

"Frisk? That's… A nice name… Frisk. I haven't felt like this for a long time. As a flower, I was soulless. I lacked the power to love other people. However, with everyone's souls inside me… I not only have my own compassion back… But I can feel every other monsters as well," he said breathily, as if the words were simply pouring out of his mouth. "They care about each other so much. And… they care about you too, Frisk. I wish I could tell you how everyone feels about you. Papyrus… sans… Undyne… Alphys… Toriel. Monsters are weird. Even though they barely know you… It feels like they all really love you." Asriel chuckled a little. "Frisk… I… I understand if you can't forgive me. I understand if you hate me. I acted so strange and horrible. I hurt you, I hurt so many people. Friends, family, bystanders… There's no excuse for what I've done."

Frisk took in all of what Asriel said. The confession was so deep, so pure. They understood why Asriel did this, and they knew in their heart that they had to forgive the goat. "I forgive you," said Frisk. Asriel gaped at Frisk in total disbelief. "Wh... What? …Frisk, come on. You're… You're gonna make me cry again. Besides, even if you do forgive me… I can't keep these souls inside of me. The least I can do is return them. But first… There' something I have to do. Right now, I can feel everyone's hearts beating as one." Asriel showed a bold face, smiling slightly. "They're all burning with the same desire. With everyone's power… With everyone's determination…" Asriel breathed in heavily, "It's time for monsters… To finally go free."

And with that, Asriel inhaled deeply. All was still. Then he raised his hands, closing his eyes. He mustered up the power of all of the souls inhabiting him, and rose up. sans, Undyne, Alphys, Papyrus, Toriel, Asgore, even Woshua, and Aaron, every soul added their power to Asriel's. All of the souls came bursting out of Asriel's tiny body, and circled his frame. Together, they all broke through the barrier once and for all. With a resounding _crack_ , it all fell to glimmering pieces on the ground. The barrier was destroyed.

Asriel weakly descended to the ground, letting his arms fall slowly to his sides, and opening his eyes in a sleepy sort of way. "Frisk… I have to go now. Without the power of everyone's souls… I can't keep maintaining this form. In a little while, I'll turn back into a flower." Frisk's face fell, and Asriel bowed his head in remorse. "I'll stop being 'myself'. I'll stop being able to feel love again. So… Frisk. It's best if you just forget about me, OK? Just go be with the people who love you." Asriel's face contorted in a depressed expression, almost crying once again. Frisk's eyebrows furrowed into understanding, and they walked over to their newfound friend. They wrapped their arms around the little goat, and cuddled the small fuzzy creature. It felt warm and comforting. Asriel hugged back tightly, knowing this was probably the last hug he would ever receive. The human rubbed his side softly, letting him know everything was going to be okay. Frisk tried to pull back a little, but Asriel only hugged tighter, "Ha ha… I don't want to let go…" He reluctantly removed his arms from Frisk, and stepped back. "Frisk…You're… You're going to do a great job, OK? No matter what you do. Everyone will be there for you, okay?" He smiled tiredly.

Asriel sluggishly turned from Frisk. He sighed heavily, "Well… My time's running out." He bowed his head, "Goodbye." The soft sound of footsteps echoed as Asriel walked away. Then he stopped, and turned around again to Frisk, forgetting something. "By the way… Frisk. Take care of Mom and Dad for me, OK?" Frisk nodded sadly.

The goat walked away as Frisk observed solemnly. This was someone who they could have been friends with in another time. The both of them would be so happy together, but yet it just couldn't be. Suddenly, the human whited out.

"Frisk! This is all just a bad dream. Please, wake up!" The sound of someone familiar blurred into Frisk's ears. They opened their eyes blearily, and looked all around the room. What they saw brought a giant smile to their face. Getting up, Toriel flashed a relieved smile right back.

"Oh! You are awake! Thank goodness!" She exclaimed.

"We-we were so worried! It felt like you were out forever!" Alphys managed to stammer out.

"Yeah! Any longer and I would have freaked out! Undyne said with her usual toothy smile. "Tell us next time you decide to take a nap, okay!?"

"yeah. you made papyrus cry like a baby." sans jokingly glanced over at his brother. He seemed a little nervous…?

"WHAT! I DIDN'T CRY! I DON'T CRY!" Papyrus responded in mock anger, "I JUST… CAUGHT SOMETHING IN MY EYE…"

"what did you catch?" sans asked, dismissing all of his previous nervousness into making the joke.

"TEARS!" Came the joke of Papyrus, as tears streamed down his face again. sans nodded, knowing just how Pap felt.

"Now, now. The important part is that Frisk is all right. Here Frisk, why not drink some tea?" Asgore quietly calmed down the pooling skeleton, and offered a cup to Frisk. "It'll make you feel better."

"Errr… How about we give them space first? They must be very exhausted. Though, from what, I am not certain. Frisk… We do not remember exactly what happened." Toriel's face showed confusion as she studied Frisk concernedly. "There was a flower, and then everything went white. But now the barrier is gone." Toriel dropped her previous subject and instead turned her attention to new freedom. "When you are ready, we will all return to the surface. It seems the door to the east will lead us there now. But before then, perhaps you might want to take a walk? You can say goodbye to all of your wonderful friends. Do as you wish, we will all wait here."

Frisk nodded and acknowledged what their goat mama said. It made sense that they would forget being absorbed by Flowey, it was almost like they all died. Frisk contemplated whether to go and tell all their friends that the barrier was down, but then they realized something, and felt someone still out there. Someone who still needed more consolation. A good friend.

Frisk waved a small hand at their friends, signaling that they'd be right back. They ran down the long corridors to the core. All of the grey reminded them of the long journey they took ever since falling down Mount Ebott. It was amazing how far they had come. They went into the MTT Resort, running past all the busy monsters waiting for the elevator. Frisk wanted to talk to everyone, tell them all to stop worrying about work, but knew that this last mission couldn't be delayed any longer than it had to. They ran past the Nice Cream man, past the two happy guards, and up to Heats Flamesman who was still in awe because Frisk remembered their name. They went into the elevator, and down some more paths until they reached the River Person.

"Tra la la. Where to?" The cloaked river person on their boat turned to ask Frisk. "Snowdin," Frisk quickly replied. They climbed onto the unsteady bow, and set off. On the way, the river person said one of his odd saying as always, "Tra la la. What's my name? …It doesn't really matter…" Frisk thought about the question humorously. So, what WAS the river person's name anyways? It mattered, it mattered very much to Frisk, though they weren't sure why…

The river person arrived on the bank of Snowdin. Without letting them speak, Frisk jumped off and ran at a breakneck pace into the heart of Snowdin. The residents noticed Frisk alarmingly, as they sped past everyone in the town, and out at the west end. Frisk was where they first met sans and Papyrus on the outskirts of the small town, solving various puzzles. They smiled happily and raced on forward, into the first forest after the ruins, past the wide gate Papyrus had built, and jumping over the broken stick. They just knew he would be there at the beginning.

Frisk finally found the door connecting the ruins and the path to Snowdin. They shoved the large door aside with determination, and ran on in. Frisk dodged the puzzles here and there, giggling to themselves as they remembered how fun it was, the excitement of finally making it past the leaf maze room, or when Toriel left them to wander the ruins alone. It was all so nostalgic, that they nearly forgot why they were there.

In the end, they came upon the room that was the second to last. The room that started all the chaos. The room where they first met Flowey. Frisk's smile fell a little, for they knew what lay after this room. They walked to the center, where little light shone through the cracks in Mt. Ebott. Looking down at the ground, at the patch of grass where Flowey once sprouted, Frisk sighed, and beheld the purple door in front of them, they walked towards it, and entered the first place they landed in the Underground. They walked forth a little, and smiled when they saw just who they expected to be there. Little Asriel.

Frisk stepped forward, and Asriel jumped a little when he heard footsteps. He turned around slowly, not expecting any monsters to be there. He beamed a little when he saw Frisk. "Don't worry about me. Someone has to take care of these flowers." Asriel admired at the small patch of Golden flowers blooming on the ground. Frisk gazed on at the flowers that just seemed to save their life at the right times. They glanced back at Asriel expectantly. The goat stared back, "Frisk, please leave me alone. I can't come back, I just can't, OK?" Asriel looked blankly ahead, trying not to let on about his feelings. Frisk kept staring at the kid, knowing that he was in need of consoling, he had to let out his frustration.

In response, Asriel sighed, "I don't want to break their hearts all over again. It's better if they never see me." He bowed his head down in shame. He wanted to badly to see his mother and father, but knew it just wasn't the best decision. Yet Frisk kept staring blankly at Asriel. He got a little uncomfortable, "… why are you still here? Are you trying to keep me company? Frisk… Hey. Let me ask you a question." The human nodded in response, glad that Asriel finally agreed to open up. Just like a flower.

"Frisk… Why did you come here?" Asriel asked, trying to reason why Frisk would ever fall into the mountain in the first place. "Everyone knows the legend, right…? 'Travelers who climb Mt. Ebott are said to disappear.' Frisk…. Why would you ever climb a mountain like that? Was it foolishness? Was it fate? Or was it… because you…?" Asriel decided to let that last thought slide. "Well. Only you know the answer, don't you…? I know why Chara climbed the mountain. It wasn't for a very happy reason." He squeezed his face a little, remembering his dear friend.

"Frisk. I'll be honest with you. Chara hated humanity. Why they did, they never talked about it. But they felt very strongly about that. Frisk. You really ARE different from Chara. In fact, though you have similar, uh, fashion choices…" Asriel pored over himself, wearing Chara's sweater, then at Frisk, wearing a similar in different colors, "I don't know why I ever acted like you were the same person. Maybe… the truth is… Chara wasn't really the greatest person. While, Frisk… You're the type of person I wish I always had. So maybe I was kind of projecting a little bit. Let's be honest. I did some weird stuff as a flower." Asriel smiled and regarded the flowers. He was one of them in a way. The human nodded and smiled a little, remembering the odd stuff Flowey used to do.

"There's one last thing I feel I should tell you." Frisk surveyed Asriel curiously. "When Chara and I combined our souls together… The control over our body was actually split between us. Chara was the one who picked up their own empty body. And then, when we got to the village… Chara was the one that wanted to… to use our full power. I was the one that resisted. And then, because of me, we… Well, that's why I ended up as a flower." In their mind, Frisk panicked. That's what happened in other timelines with Chara… They squinted their eyes a little to focus on what their friend was saying.

Asriel continued, "Frisk, this whole time, I've blamed myself for that decision. That's why I adopted that horrible view of the world." Asriel frowned as he spoke the phrase, 'Kill or be killed.' But now… After meeting you… Frisk, I don't regret that decision anymore. I did the right thing. If I killed those humans…" His faced showed slight anger, "We would have to wage war against all of humanity. But, in the end, everyone went free right?"

Asriel looked at Frisk with a hearty smile. Frisk nodded happily. "I still feel kind of sad knowing how long it took. So maybe, it wasn't a perfect decision. But you can't regret hard choices your whole life, right? Well, not that I have much of a life left." The little goat almost lost his composure, but, not wanting to cry, inhaled sharply. "But that's beside the point. Frisk, thank you for listening to me. You should really go be with your friends now, OK? Oh, and, please… In the future, if you uh, see me… Don't think of it as me, OK? I just want you to remember me like this, someone that was your friend for a little while." Frisk nodded again, knowing sadly that Flowey will once again be all that was left of Asriel.

"Oh, and Frisk… Be careful in the outside world, OK? Despite what everyone thinks, it's not as nice as it is here. There are a lot of Floweys out there, and not everything can be resolved by just being nice. Frisk… Don't kill, and don't be killed, alright? That's the best you can strive for." Frisk gave Asriel a quick hug. They had a small plan for later. "Well, see you." Frisk smiled, simply saying, "See you, too." They could finally walk away from the Underground happily. Asriel would finally be at peace. Frisk went to the door in the room, and with a final turn towards their good friend, they hurried back to the entrance of Mt. Ebott. After all, they couldn't keep their other friends waiting.

Frisk took the short way back to Asgore's castle, once again climbing onto the river person's boat. All the anticipation made them very anxious. They wanted to see their friends, and get out of the claustrophobic cave. Once at the core, Frisk tried their hardest to sprint back, almost running into some curious monsters along the way. Finally, they got to the throne room. It seemed like their friends were chatting amongst themselves.

Frisk went up to his goat Mom, seeing her new, upgraded phone. It looked a lot like Frisk's! Toriel grinned at her child, "Hello, Frisk. Alphys upgraded my phone." Frisk made an "O" with their mouth, so that's why it was similar to theirs! Toriel tapped the screen and showed Frisk some messages with sans, "I am having a lot of fun with the 'texting' feature!" She hit the 'send' button, "sans, 'check out' this one." san's pocket buzzed, and he grabbed his phone to look at what she sent, "oh man, tori…that's brutal." Frisk motioned their hand to see what was sent, but Toriel merely shook her head.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THE QUEEN HAS RETURNED… AND ALSO SHE'S A HUGE DORK!" Papyrus yelled, not understanding why the two would be texting so close to each other, "YOU TWO ARE TWO FEET AWAY FROM EACH OTHER! WHY ARE YOU TEXTING!?" Papyrus furrowed his brow bones.

"Worry not, Papyrus. We are texting for a good reason." She said.

"WHY IS THAT?" Papyrus cautiously questioned, almost feeling the puns radiating off his brother. _Noooo…Don't make a pun!_

"well. 'cause we're huge dorks!" sans winked, letting his brother off the hook with his puns. For now…

"sans, please do not say that. You are not a dork." Toriel could hardly contain herself, "You are more of a bonehead!" She giggled uncontrollably.

"HAHAHA, WOW! THOSE PUNS ARE EVEN LESS FUNNY COMING FROM HER!" Papyrus just _knew_ that some pun would creep out! _KNEW IT._ But he still smiled.

"then why are you smiling?" sans spied his straining brother's face.

"IT'S A PITY SMILE!" He yelled back.

Frisk was completely delighted, and decided to let those three talk it out for now. They made their way over to Asgore. Fighting the urge to pick up the human in a hug, Asgore said, "Howdy, Frisk. Sorry about almost trying to take your soul. I feel very bad about it. I hope we can still be pals." The king's face was apologetic. Frisk smiled, "Of course."

"Hey, don't worry about it Asgore." Undyne piped in. "I think everybody's tried to kill Frisk at least once." She grinned a little sadistically.

"Oh… I see! In that case, I'm not sorry, Frisk." The human gave him an incredulous look. Okay?

"ASGORE! That's not what I meant!" Undyne chuckled and rolled her eyes at the innocence of the king. The human nodded, and decided to let Undyne explain further as they heard Alphys whisper to them.

"Psst… F-Frisk. Um, you've gotta tell me. D… do you think Asgore and Toriel are…? Uh, ever gonna get back together?"

The human hardly had to think about it, and quickly answered, "Yeah!" Alphys beamed and giddily nodded several times,

"Y-yeah! Yeah, that's what I hope too! Just think about how cute they must have been together. It's quickly becoming my number one ship of all time. Tori and Gorey… My… Old boss and his ex-wife." Her face screwed up, "…uh, that sounds a lot less cool all of a sudden." Frisk shrugged, and let Alphys linger on that thought a while longer, heading over to Undyne.

"So, Alphys…What do you want to do now that we're all free?" Undyne asked to the yellow reptile. "We have the whole world to explore now."

"W-Well, of course I'm going to go out and… Um…" Alphys thought of lying, but… "No, I should be honest! I'm gonna stay inside and watch anime like a total loser!" Her face glowed with all the anime anticipation.

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT!" Papyrus piped in sarcastically, "EVERYONE! A CELEBRATION! TO BEING LOSERS!"

Undyne saluted the skeleton, "Heh. Papyrus had the right idea. Losing to Frisk is the best thing to ever happen to me." Undyne smirked at Frisk, who gave her an affirmative grin. "Huh? What is it, Asgore?" Undyne questioned the King, who had a puzzled look.

"Um… What's an anime?" Asgore asked meekly. He didn't really fiddle too much with modern things to know what this was. He didn't even know why Toriel was so absorbed in "texting." That was so strange!

Alphys nearly screamed. ' _Oh My God?'_ She whispered to the human,"Frisk. Please. Help me explain what anime is to Asgore." Her eyes lowered in a lofty way, planning to teach Asgore the way of the anime. "Y-you see, it's like a cartoon but… "She grasped at straws, trying to find a good way to explain what anime was. Frisk helped her out, "With swords."

Asgore dipped his head in understanding. "So it's like a cartoon… but with swords? Golly! That sounds neato! Where is this? Where can I see the anime?" Alphys fumbled with her phone, "H-hold on, I think I have some on my phone." She tapped a video file and held up the screen so Asgore could see. She realized a few seconds in that she picked the wrong video to show. "Oh, uh…. Um, that's the… That's the wrong…" She started to blush immensely. "Uh, never mind."

The goat widened his eyes, "Golly. Were those two robots…?" He couldn't finish the sentence. Too strange, too odd.

"…Kissing?" Undyne completed the thought.

Asgore inclined his head a little, "Boy! Technology sure is something, isn't it?"

Alphys tried to switch the conversation to something a little less embarrassing, "Eehehe, yeah! It sure is!"

Frisk shook their head, and inched over to where Papyrus was at. He changed the subject quickly, "So, Asgore… How about making me a member of the Royal Guard?" His eye sockets lit up enthusiastically.

Asgore winced a little, "Well, Papyrus, now that the war is over… We might not need the Royal Guard anymore."

"WHAT?! THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE HUMAN'S QUEST?! THEY JOURNEYED ALL THAT WAY… AND I'M STILL NOT A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD!?" The tall skeleton just couldn't believe it! Disband the Royal Guard? Preposterous! "TRULY, THIS IS THE WORST POSSIBLE ENDING." He huffed.

Frisk went to sans last. Something seemed... off about the skeleton. Almost like he was afraid of something? The thought went away as soon as sans spoke, "frisk, tori was telling me how she made b'scotch pie for you."

Toriel quickly added in, "Oh, I should bake it for everyone sometime!" Everyone suddenly wanted a sliver of the famous butterscotch pie. Undyne and Papyrus prompted to help. Toriel was delighted at such a display of buoyancy. "Certainly! It would be fun to cook together!" After hearing that Undyne was wanting to help, Alphys changed her mind, ' _On second thought, maybe I'll order pizza.'_

Frisk was delighted to hear everyone so happy, making plans for the future. Oh, right! The future! They went to tug on Toriel's robe, signaling that they were ready to go up to the surface. It was time to see the outside world again! She acknowledged Frisk's anticipation, and waved a hand for everyone to follow.

Leading up to where the barrier once stood, all were silent. The crew of friends walked side by side, until they met the blinding orange-ness of the sky. Undyne and Papyrus ran up to the edge where the Underground and Overworld met. The rest joined, and reveled in the beauty of the land beneath them. The sun was setting, shadowing most of the features, and backing the rest in a gorgeous array of orange, red and yellow all over a city in the distance in the right, and a mountain to their left. It was the most amazing thing that they had ever seen.

Toriel sharply gasped, "Oh my…"

"Isn't it beautiful?" Asgore reveled in the sunlight. It had been so long. Maybe twenty, no, thirty? Many years. Most of Frisk's friends had never seen the outside world, they were barely young adults.

"Wow. It's e-even better than on TV. WAY better! Better than I ever imagined!" The reptile glowed, and stared at the setting sun. It might be bad to stare at a giant ultraviolet lamp of gas in the sky, but it was so worth it.

"Frisk, you LIVE with this?! The sunlight is so nice… and the air is so fresh!" Undyne took in a long, deep breath. The smell of pine trees and fresh grass filled her nose. "I really feel alive!" She said, yelling the last part out onto the mountain below her.

"HEY SANS… WHAT'S THAT GIANT BALL?" Papyrus squinted at the ball of light in the sky. It burned so very much.

"we call that, 'the sun,' my friend." The older brother replied. sans relaxed a little. _'they see me. frisk. forget about me for a bit, just for now, please.'_ The skeleton shifted a little, thinking of what to do next.

"THAT'S THE SUN?! WOWIE! I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M FINALLY MEETING THE SUN!" Papyrus would have extended his arm to shake the sun's hand if he could.

"I could stand here and watch this for hours…" The king's mouth was slightly cornered into a smile. It was a happy expression, one of complete peace.

Toriel decided it was time to do something, "Yes, it is beautiful, is it not? But we should really think about what comes next." She gently reminded the King. A quick thought raced through her mind, one that made her face slightly heat up. _'No. No, not now.'_ She chastised herself.

"Oh, right. Everyone… This is the beginning of a bright new future. An era of peace between humans and monsters. Frisk… I have something to ask of you. Will you act as our ambassador to the humans?"

Frisk raised an eyebrow. They were a little inexperienced at handling such responsibilities like that. Maybe they would just be a speech person. "Yes." They replied. They knew a talk with Asgore was needed later to clarify that the humans didn't run things as liberally as the monsters did. Frisk decided to hold off on it, not to ruin the amazing moment with their friends.

"YEAH! FRISK WILL BE THE BEST AMBASSADOR! AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS… WILL BE THE BEST MASCOT! I'LL GO MAKE A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION!" Before Frisk could stop him, Papyrus sped off to the north as the sun started to set in the west.

sans shook his head and shrugged, "welp. someone's gotta keep him from getting in trouble. see you guys." sans knew this was his chance to leave and collect his thoughts. Winking, he turned on his heel and went east. He could deal with the trouble his little brother would cause later. Frisk took a mental note of sans' action. It wasn't unusual for sans to do that, but the expression on his face said something different.

Undyne groaned. "Man, do I have to do EVERYTHING!? Papyrus, wait!" Undyne chuckled to herself and ran after the rogue skeleton. Alphys did a double take, "Hey, Undyne! Wait up!" Her short legs ran after Undyne as fast as they would carry her.

Now all that was left were the monarchs and the human. Asgore shuffled his feet, feeling the awkwardness. "Whoops." Yes, awkward. He turned to look at Toriel and Frisk, standing side by side, "Uh, should I do something?" Toriel gave Asgore an evil glare that said, _'Go away.'_ Asgore was immediately intimidate, and jogged off, saying, "Well, gotta go!"

Toriel left out a breath of relief. She could finally talk to her child in peace. "It seems that everyone is quite eager to set off." She paused for a moment, before finally asking Frisk a very important question. "Frisk. You came from this world, right…? So you must have a place to return to, do you not? What will you do now?" Toriel finally asked. What if Frisk had to leave? What would she tell the others? Her heart pounded loudly. Would this be the last time she would see her little Frisk?

The human didn't even want to think about the answer. They knew exactly where they belonged. Of course, there was always, _that other place,_ but there was no point in returning to it. Eyes closed, and smile wider than a crescent moon, Frisk answered what was the most obvious to them, "I want to stay with you."

Toriel went fish-eyed. "What? Frisk…You really are a funny child! If you had said that earlier, none of this would have happened. It is a good thing you took so long to change your mind." Toriel let out a loud laugh of relief. "Ah, well…I suppose if you really do not have any other place to go… I will do my best to take care of you as long as you need. All right? Now, come along!" She grasped Frisk's hand tightly in her right hand, "Everyone is waiting for us!" They hurried in the direction as everyone else went. Frisk scouted the direction where sans left. _'He'll be fine. Stop worrying.'_ Frisk assured themselves.

Toriel guided them down the mountain, holding Frisk's hand all the way. Frisk didn't mind. This was their new mother. The thought made them smile. The two stumbled a little on some rocks and crevices in the mountain's terrain. Some itchy, yellow grass made its way into Frisk's shoes, and the branches off of pine trees threatened to prick at the human's head. It was okay though, because they made it to a small clearing where the foliage wasn't so thick. Toriel focused her vision down the mountain and saw a small village down at the base. It seemed quaint, maybe only containing a few thousand people. Scanning further up, she could make out the silhouettes of the others. It seemed that Undyne was successful in retrieving the skeleton. Alphys seemed like she was much closer, bending over and panting. Asgore was patting the little reptile's back.

Toriel was relieved that Papyrus hadn't reached the village yet. The humans might not be ready to see monsters. She remembered that long ago, before the humans erected the magical barrier that sealed all of the monsters Underground, she and Asgore had thought about a plan. Right before the war broke out, the two monarchs agreed that if a solution other than war could not be made, they would erase the human's memories…

 _Years ago_

"Tori, this cannot go on." A much younger Asgore sat on a large armchair. He was sweating from the nervousness of the tensions between the humans and monsters. Recently, humans had found out that monsters could absorb their souls. It caused a great outcry, and many of the humans started attacking monsters out of sheer fear. It was ridiculous, of course. Humans far succeeded monsters when it came to soul power, and it was very unlikely that the monsters would start going out of their way to kill humans. It did not make sense that the humans would be worried about losing their souls, when the monsters were almost helpless against them.

Toriel did not look up at her husband from where she sat. Her expression was somber, and she was not up to the task of discussing such a serious matter at the time. She placed a paw tenderly on her growing stomach, and almost teared up. She simply had to be pregnant at a time like this. Such a crisis was going on, and she could do nothing but sit at home and worry! Toriel struggled to keep the lump of emotions down in her throat. _'Why did you have to come to me, child? Why at a time where we are in need of all the help we can get?'_ Toriel rubbed her stomach softly, as if to calm the unborn kid. Her rubbing became a little vigorous, as tears welled up in her eyes. ' _Why, why, simply why?'_ She grit her teeth and raised her hand. Toriel shook it forcefully, balling it into a fist that slammed down on the arm of her chair. ' _What a horrid omen had been brought unto all my children!'_ She tilted her head back and wailed uncontrollably, tears now pouring down her face and onto her neck. Asgore was startled by the outburst and quickly came to the aide of his wife, who was now shouting.

"These humans! Can they not see that we are helpless?" She yelled, looking at the ceiling as if it would provide the answers. "This cannot happen, it cannot! We have done nothing to them, and yet they slaughter our people mercilessly like ants!" Asgore kneeled down by the armchair, rubbing the tense arms of his queen. She did not take kindly to the action, and retracted her arm away from the lightly touches, "HONESTLY? You are not concerned that our child might be born in the time of a war? What about our other children? Our people!" She spat at Asgore, who was almost at the brink of tears himself. She bore her fangs, tears at full steam, snot gathering at her nose. "WH-What if they killed you? What if they killed you!? What will I do then?" Toriel's voice started to pitch higher, filled with desperation, "WHAT IF YOU DIED. I WOULD NEVER, EVER SEE YOU AGAIN, ASGORE! PLEASE… Please… P-Please…" She slumped in her chair, almost melting into the cushion, "Please, dear. Do _something…_ " She finally whispered in a hoarse voice.

Asgore was taken aback by her outburst. She had a right to be angry, yes, though she was a little out of her usual character. Asgore assumed it was the child, as well as the atmosphere of where she was. So close to all of the murders, she must have been very anxious while he was gone. Asgore had been away a lot lately, discussing with his fellow monsters about what to do about the killings.

Some had wanted to attack the humans and kill them to even the score. After all, monsters were certainly able to kill humans. Even Paracelsus, Undyne's father who was a rookie in training, could lift up boulders the size of elephants. If he could do that, they could kill the humans without a problem. It was the weakness of their soul, however, that gave them a huge disadvantage. A magical attack at a monster would kill them easily, if done correctly. Monsters were made of mostly magic, and it reacted badly when the right type of magic was used against them. That, or enough physical injuries sustained would of course kill the body, and thus kill the soul. (That makes sense, right?)

Asgore highly disagreed with this option. It was too risky, and too many of the monsters would be lost in the bloodshed. He decided that if a war broke out, which at this point was inevitable, the monsters should flee to a safety point where they would all be safe. In the meeting, they all agreed that Mountain Ebott would be a great place to go. It had a lot of deep caverns and mazes to keep humans distracted while they made their getaway. Asgore would relay the information with the queen as soon as he returned, that way she would know what to do in a time of crisis. Though, at the moment, with the queen with child, there was hardly a thing she could do.

Toriel was crying softly, gripping the edges of her chair. "Asgore, what do we do? If the humans end up attacking at once? What do we do?" She was at a loss. Her husband slowly placed his hand on her arm, and this time she didn't react. He leaned closely to Toriel, looking into her sparkling burgundy eyes. The two gazed at each other in a sad way, before finally edging closer in a reassuring kiss. Toriel sighed as they pulled apart, and felt a little calmer.

The king gave her a small smile, "Dear, I think we need to make a plan. Other than going to Mount Ebott when the war breaks out, we should have a backup method." He stroked his wife's arm soothingly, searching her face for a reaction. He indeed found it, and she closed her eyes in a mixture of sadness and disgust.

"I cannot believe we must have another plan. Do you really think that they will not stop if we flee to Mountain Ebott?" She asked, brows gathered in concern. Surely, the humans wouldn't be so cruel.

But Asgore bobbed his head slowly in response, rising her fears once again. The humans were so merciless as to attack without warning now, what made them think that they wouldn't stop attacking when a war was at hand? "War is a frightening category of violence, my love." Asgore bluntly put.

Toriel looked up at the ceiling once again, thinking of some other backup plan. What else could they do but fight and run? Of course, speaking to the humans was out of the question. Asgore cleared his throat to get the attention of his wife, who was lost in thought. She quickly observed at him with question. "I have been speaking with Madjick and Shyren. With their magic and knowledge of memories, I was thinking…" Toriel shuddered at the mention of the fish creature, even though she knew that the poor monster was trying their best with music. Asgore continued his explanation, "I was thinking that we could erase the human's memories if we find ourselves backed into a corner." He finished, hoping his wife would accept the secondary method.

Toriel pursed her lip and raised her eyebrows, "Why is this a secondary option? Can we not erase the memories of the humans right now?" It seemed like a much simpler option.

It was a little more complicated, however, as Asgore replied, "First, we need more than a few humans to be together at one spot. Our plan was to cast the spell on them if they tracked us to the mountain. That way, the most powerful humans would be affected. Second, there is a problem with the spell. It seems that Madjick and Shyren casting the spell together will cause whichever humans to forget that they have magical abilities at all. That might cause-"

Toriel interrupted Asgore, "Then do it. The benefits seem to far outweigh the consequences of casting that spell. I will allow it."

Asgore wanted to finish, but he suspected Toriel was starting to tire of the conversation. "Yes, dear."

He stood up, and let his wife be. It was time for him to go to another meeting with the others. He stood at the doorway of the living room, and looked back at Toriel, who was starting to fall into a troubled sleep. "I guess this is how it will all be, my love…" Asgore frowned sadly, gazing at Toriel for a few moments longer. She nodded lightly, before closing her eyes with a depressed expression. Asgore walked out, feeling undetermined.

 _Current day_

Toriel came out of her flashback. Yes, they indeed erased the human's memories. What the king and queen hadn't planned, however, was that the spell worked too well, and ended up erasing the memories of the entire human populace. It was going to be a little difficult to get the whole Underground to live on the surface, but she knew everything would work out.

Toriel smiled at her Frisk. Everything would work out because she had them. "Frisk, let's go meet Papyrus and Undyne, yes?" Frisk nodded their head joyfully. This was going to be an adventure! They tugged on Toriel's hand, and ushered her quickly down the mountain, being careful not to let the two trip.

Asgore saw the two coming down and smiled heartily. It seemed that Frisk had chosen to stay with their friends. He waved a giant paw at them and tapped Alphys with his other free paw. She looked up from her bent over position to see her friend and Toriel coming closer. She beamed happily to see them in such a rush. She could hardly handle her own excitement as well.

Once the pair reached their friends, all four of them descended down to Undyne and Papyrus. It seemed that she was scolding him.

"Dummy! What if the humans attacked you? You'd be a pile of little smiling pieces! And then I would have to beat them all up!" She fumed, hands crossed in front of her chest. Her lips were scrunched in annoyance.

"I'M SORRY, UNDYNE! I JUST WANTED TO SAY HI!" Papyrus made a puppy-dog face. He held his hands in front of him, pleading Undyne to let him off the hook. He was just trying to be a great visitor!

Undyne rolled her eyes gaily. "Ah fine, you knucklehead. I'll let it slide this time. But next time you go nuts without telling anyone, I'll personally pound your face in, ya hear?" She smiled with her serrated teeth glinting in the setting sun. Papyrus nodded his head quickly.

"I WILL, UNDYNE! PLEASE DON'T POUND MY FACE." He turned to see his friends joyfully taking in the scene. The skeleton flinched back, "HEY! DON'T WE HAVE SOMEWHERE TO BE?" He pointed his hand in the direction of the village, which was only a few hundred feet away. Frisk smiled and pulled Toriel's hand again, heading to the village.

All of the friends walked to the border of where the village started. Many small houses lined the outskirts, then it led to a small square where there were children playing. As the monsters approached, many humans started to turn their heads towards the small group. Their eyes became wide with astonishment. Two walking goats, a fish monster, a yellow dinosaur, and a skeleton with a person following the lead? Was this some elaborate cosplay?

Frisk walked boldly, noticing the stares of all the bystanders. They narrowed their eyes, but kept walking with determination. His friends seemed calm enough, as long as none of them made any sudden moves, everything would go smoothly…

"Hey! Mamma look! It's a skeleton!" A child ran up to Papyrus as the group reached the central hub of the village where a crowd was starting to gather. The skeleton took a step back in confusion with a worried expression on his bony face. The child only inched closer!

The child's brown-haired mother approached the group cautiously, her eyes darting back and forth between all of the creatures. All of the other villagers stared at the interaction with the woman and the strange newcomers. Papyrus was unsure of what to do, so he spoke instead, "EH, HELLO LITTLE ONE! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! WHO MIGHT YOU BE?" He was unsure of what would happen after that.

The little child poked Papyrus' tibia bone with their finger. "I'm Joanna! You look funny!" The little girl then poked her finger _through_ the leg bones. That's when the mother froze and studied Papyrus carefully. It's a walking skeleton! She scanned the other monsters carefully. The fur on the goats looked real! The fish monster and the dinosaur looked real too!

"Oh. I see. Oh my God." She quietly said to herself. She peered back at her child, who was still investigating the tall skeleton's legs. The woman then briskly walked over to the skeleton, and stuck out her hand in an attempt to greet him. Her face was scrunched in fear with a mask of friendliness. The people around them leaned back, and wondered what would happen.

Papyrus bobbed his head to look at the girl, then at her mother. He gingerly stretched his gloved hand out and grasped the woman's palm. They shook hands for a while. Papyrus stared at the woman's eyes, while she seemed to search for eyes in the skeleton's black eye sockets. The child stood with her mouth open while her mother shook hands with the big man.

Suddenly, the woman stopped shaking Papyrus' hand, but still held it. She gripped it hard, and yanked the glove off, revealing what was underneath. She gasped when she saw the phalanges without skin or muscle structure. So this was a real talking, living skeleton!

"I-I-I didn't think I would believe it until I saw your hand. You're real, aren't you?" The woman wasn't frightened as much as she was intrigued. The crowd around the monsters had gotten larger. A burly man stepped forward. He was almost as tall and as big as Asgore! He wasn't scared at all, and approached the group courageously. Once he was a few feet from them, he outstretched his large arms.

"Welcome! I am Roscoe Edric, the Mayor of our humble village of Crystallea! Who might you be?" He grinned genuinely, showing his teeth.

Asgore was the first to react, instinctively responding with a kingly response, "Hello, human! I am Asgore, king of the Underground's monsters. I have come with a message of peace. We would like to settle on your surface world." Asgore was delighted that the humans didn't remember the monsters at all! In fact, the Mayor's name seemed familiar, but Asgore dismissed it.

The Mayor wasn't skeptical at all: these were in fact monsters, and not humans dressed up. Something seemed to tell him that he's seen the big goat before, but maybe it was just his imagination. Hearing Asgore's reply, Roscoe placed his hands together in front of him, and bowed slightly, "Welcome, King Asgore. I would love to know more about your kind, and it would be fine if you settle by our town. We have heard of the legend of Mount Ebott, but never knew where it came from. We finally know why people who climb to the top never return," He took a gander at Frisk, "But now we know why!"

Frisk flushed a little and retreated their eyes to the corners. They released Toriel's hand, which was beginning to get wet from their clammy hand. Frisk went to go and shake Mr. Edric's hand. The mayor cordially and shook Frisk's hand in return. "Ho Ho! How are you, young one? Did you fall into Mount Ebott? It must have been quite the experience!" His cheeks shone red. Frisk imagined that the Mayor was probably responsible for being Santa Claus around Christmas time…

Asgore shook his head in affirmation, "Yes, our Frisk sha- I mean, they showed us how to get out of the Underground mazes! We have lived Underground for a… A long time!" Asgore almost forgot that the humans wouldn't remember that they sealed the monsters underground with a barrier.

Undyne feeling forgotten, strut to the mayor and thrust her chest out, "I'm Undyne, protector of monsters! Fiercest warrior of the Underground!" She bowed deeply to the mayor, who admired the blue fish monster and bowed back.

"Please to meet you, Undyne! Ah, who's your little, yellow friend there?" The mayor motioned towards Alphys, who was hiding behind Undyne. A blue hand grabbed the back of Alphys and thrust her forward toward the human. She extended a quivering hand to him, "H-h-hello, m-my name's A-Alphys. I-I'm Asgore's royal s-scientist." Roscoe strongly shook the clawed hand, which just dead-fished around.

"A royal scientist you say? Well, we have a scientist of our own here in the village! I'm sure you and Ms. Pernuts will get along fine!" Mr. Edric said, ignoring Alphys' fearful face.

"And who might this one be?" The mayor turned to see Toriel, who was enjoying the scene in front of her. She shook the man's hand that was already out to give her a greeting.

"I am Toriel, nice to meet you. Your village is very nice, and I would love to make many friends here." Toriel noticed the some villagers were starting to come closer to the group. She also noticed that the skeleton was missing from where he stood! She looked around alarmingly, still clutching the man's hand. _'Oh, Papyrus! Where did you go?'_

The woman noticed Toriel's dismay, and pointed to where Papyrus had skipped the introductions and way playing with Joanna and some of the other children. "He's really great with kids! I'm sorry for taking his glove off," She handed Toriel the glove with an apologetic smile, "I was just a little startled to see a skeleton walking around! I thought that monsters were just fairytales."

Toriel sighed with relief, "Ah, I see. Thank you. We had to calm him down on the way down the mountain, he's such a feisty one!" They both exchanged a jolly glance before the woman slapped her hand on her forehead.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Dahlia Edric, pleased to meet you!" Toriel was flattered by the woman's kindness, "I'm pleased to meet you as well, Ms. Edric." Toriel paused for a moment. _'Edric? Wasn't that the mayor's last name as well?'_

It seemed that the mayor read Toriel's mind, "Ah yes, I'm sorry that I didn't introduce you earlier, my dear!" He placed his hand behind his head and rubbed his neck, "This is my wife, Dahlia!" Dahlia bowed to the group, "Nice to meet all of you! I look forward to being great friends!" Roscoe placed his hand on the small of her back, and motioned for some of the staring villagers to come and meet the group. "Come one now, they don't bite! I wouldn't have a hand if they did!" He chuckled. Some of the people came a little closer, and some even went up to Toriel and Asgore.

"Hello, how are you? My name is Debbie!" One shook hands with Asgore

"Hi, I'm Elijah, I hope you'll enjoy it here." Another shook Toriel's hand.

Undyne and Alphys also got their fair share of people greeting them. "Your skin is so cold! Is it scales, or skin?" A villager who shook her hand asked Undyne. Another was being very gentle with Alphys, "Oh, hello! I'm Carmen, don't be shy, I won't hurt you."

Frisk beamed. Everything turned out so well! This could end up well after all.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Well, hoped you liked the first chapter! I know it was a little lengthy, but so will the rest. Tell me if I should split it up into two chapters, it might be a little too much. Thanks for reading!


	2. Fresh Start

sans stood alone in a forest by the mountain. He hoped to himself that the others had forgotten him. The cold wind breezed through his leg bones. He gazed to the horizon through the dense trees: Twilight had fallen, creating a blue hue throughout the lay of the land. He blew a puff of air, "ah, frisk. you did it this time. no more fucked up timelines." He took a tattered piece of paper out of his jacket pocket. The paper was lined with a thin blue line of magic around it. sans unfolded it fragilely, careful not to tear the tender edges of the folds. It had many charts and graphs on it displaying numbers and percentages. He took out a pencil from his pocket and walked over to a fallen log. He smoothed the paper on some of the less rugged bark, and took some notes on one of the bar graphs that was labeled with red ink. It had the phrase, "WHEN WE GET OUT" around it. Some of the other bars had notes like, "DEAD END," or "RESET AGAIN," along with dates and some integrals around them.

The skeleton had plotted some points around a graph that was fairly small. It seemed like sans had just started to graph it. He nodded at his handiwork. "alright. this means you won't reset this time, right frisk? you won't kill anyone, and you won't die either, because you'll be happy. i'll make you happy if you can't be on your own." sans lowered his brown bones down over his sockets after staring at the paper for a little bit. The notes on the page described all of the past timelines in code, and when he read them he was sorely reminded of what had transpired in a certain black graph. When Frisk had gone chaotic, and killed everyone, and Frisk had reset when they gave up trying to defeat sans. In another timeline, Frisk reset when they killed… _Papyrus_.

sans locked his jaw, staring at the numbers on the page that detailed when his brother was murdered by Frisk. He sweat, and gripped the page with trembling hands. The more he scanned the page, the more frantic he became, breathing heavily over the numbers. He finally tossed the paper aside and plastered himself on the log. He held his head in shaking hands and shut his eye sockets firmly. Hairline cracks formed underneath his sockets, creating a stressed look. _Papyrus._ He replayed the death scene over and over in his head, watching his brother's skull get severed off every time. It had always left Papyrus' body standing there, as if it couldn't catch up with what happened. The head would always speak last words to that _monster_ , always the same damn ones!

" _STILL! I BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN STILL DO BETTER! EVEN IF YOU DON'T THINK SO! I… I promise…"_

That damn monster! Couldn't they see that Papyrus was giving them mercy? They saw his head turn into dust every time, like a sadist. It was as if they had enjoyed watching Papyrus lay there, still believing that they could change…

But Frisk did change. In other timelines, Frisk only reset because they had died, or because they couldn't defeat Asgore… Or because of _someone else._ sans explicitly remembered someone else messing around with the timelines before Frisk. Someone that had caused sans to investigate the shifts in the first place. He could never figure out who it was only when Frisk came along that he could see something changing. The resets and jumps in the timelines were different, as if they had a purpose. sans had taken an interest in them when Papyrus had started saying that he recognized Frisk. When he looked into the matter, it was clear that Frisk was causing a disturbance in the space-time continuum. That's when sans started to take notes on a paper that he coated with magic to withstand the resets and shifts. He wrote down the occurrences and actions of people who acted strangely.

The first time sans read the paper after a reset, he believed he had gone insane. But it became clear that what he read was true when he saw a certain language on the paper that convinced him otherwise. It was in wingdings, and said, "Don't forget." That phrase had chased him all his life, and if it was on a paper like this, it must have been because of something important. The language only made the situation direr.

Every time something changed or shifted, he wrote down more code, explaining details and events. That's when he noticed that there were shifts when characters would act differently, and he noticed when they were completely the same. Little by little, sans started having memories of some of the timelines and be able to remember major events. Now he had mastered memorizing the events fluently, and hardly needed the piece of paper, and only kept it as a reference to jot down notes. He eventually categorized three major different timelines, with several others following as alterations. In other words, when Frisk did something slightly different, like killing Snowdrake, or following him to a secret room in Snowdin.

One of the three timelines was when Frisk came to a standstill, or when Frisk had gone to the Overworld on their own. They had journeyed through the Underground with the sole purpose of leaving it. That was all. Whether the human killed monsters or not, they eventually got to the same result. Then why didn't those timelines stay that way? Why did Frisk not just live their life outside of the Underground? That seemed like it would solve everything, and end the madness. Not even sans could figure it out. The timeline also came to a standstill when Frisk seemed frustrated with something, and eventually reset time, for whatever reason. The human would either kill no one, or whoever came into their path. They neither made friends, nor tried to in the least. This certain type of timeline happened a lot, and sans had labeled it, "RESET AGAIN."

Another common type of timeline seemed to intervene with almost everything. It was one that sans had colored in black on his reference paper. He remembered that timeline well. Frisk killed everyone. It seemed that they had already came out with a malicious mindset after coming out of the Ruins before Snowdin. Frisk didn't laugh, didn't care, and ignored everyone's pleas. This is the timeline where they were, ' _a dirty brother killer.'_ sans hated that timeline. It reeked of death, and that was the very timeline that sans remembered fighting Frisk. He could only remember some instances of the fight itself, like when he managed to kill Frisk, and then see them come back for a fight again after a reset. Oh, the frustration on their face. It was almost worth it. _Almost._ There was one time, and only one, that Frisk killed sans. That's when the timeline abruptly ended. He could record no more, since he was dead after that. It was an alarming fact that something happened to Frisk, something sinister. sans labeled the timeline as, "DEAD END," and was colored in black.

The last timeline was the current one. sans had only recently begun jotting down notes for this one, plotting it in red ink. Frisk was more innocent, more forgiving. They were so gentle, very unlike the Frisk in the last two types of timelines. As it was still a work in progress, sans didn't have very many notes down. What he did find interesting in spite of that, was the fact that he was outside at the moment. He had NEVER been in the outside world from the Underground. Why was the timeline so different? What had changed Frisk? He decided to leave the questions alone until he ask the human himself.

After some time of meddling in his thoughts, sans eased the pressure from his hands. He opened his eye sockets, and decided to look up at the sky. ' _The sky…'_ It was amazing. Twilight had passed into the night. How long had he been sitting there with his eyes closed? His bright blue pupils gazed at the stars fading out into the black ink of the night. He felt himself gasping for air.

"wow. it looks just like the wishing room in the waterfall." At that moment he saw a star shooting across space, leaving a trail of glittering stardust behind it. sans knew this child's tale! If you see a shooting star, make a wish upon it. He was really never the one to believe in such fairy tales, but he felt really hopeful at that moment. The timeline was going great so far, a little wish could never hurt to improve the chances he had, right? He closed his eyes, and clasped his hands in front of him, and recited an old poem he remembered reading on the walls of the Wishing Room.

"oh star light, star bright, first star i see tonight. i wish i may, i wish i might, have this wish that i wish tonight." He squeezed his eyes, and made his secret wish, one that he really wanted ever since…

It was done. sans looked up at the sky. The star was gone, but his determination was back. "well, i think s'about time i head over to the others." He rose from his seat on the log, and scanned for the paper that he had tossed aside earlier. In the dark it was easy to see the lining of magic around the paper. He went over to it and picked it up, dusting off the dirt that had made its way on there.

"almost lost it. that would've been bad." sans folded it just as deliberately as when he opened it. He then placed it in a special zipper on the inside of his pocket. He needed to speak with Frisk alone, but it wasn't that urgent. He wanted to enjoy this new world

"heh, that guy's gonna drive them to the grave." He took a step backwards, and felt a rushing of air around him as he teleported to the last place he saw Frisk: On top of Mount Ebott.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 _At the mayor's house_

Roscoe Edric and his wife Dahlia had invited the group of monsters over for dinner and to spend the night. Joanna was more than delighted to have her new friend over.

The group sat around a rather large table. It was made of a gorgeous cherry wood, and appeared like it was lacquered with the utmost care. The room around them looked like it was supposed to be a ballroom more than a dining room. The carpet below had fibers that were so plush; it was like walking on clouds. The rich red color swirled with vignette yellow wisps that swayed when someone stepped on it. The walls were a creamy white, accentuated with light golden damask designs. Large vases adorned the corners of the room, filled with orchids and white lilies.

The table in front of them was gorgeously laid out as well. Folded white napkins were placed in front of every person, with silverware at either side. A vase with Circus roses was in the center with several branches of limonium sticking out.

Toriel had her mouth agape, staring at the beautiful room. Dahlia, who had sat beside Toriel, giggled, "Haven't you seen a room like this before?"

Toriel shook her head, "Not one as extravagant as this one! It is very alluring." Roscoe, who was at the head of the table, tilted his head in a jolly laugh, and patted his wife's hand, who sat to his right.

"Dahlia, dear! Our friends are to feel welcome, not overwhelmed, eh Asgore?" The mayor turned his head to the left, questioning the king.

Asgore imitated the laugh, "Not at all, Roscoe! We love your home! I am still extremely thankful to you and Dahlia to let us spend the night here."

"Not a problem at all Asgore. Oh, here comes the food! I hope you like it! The villagers made it themselves. I think they wanted to see if you'd like the food we have here." The group turned their heads to many people delivering platters of food. They had already met a few of the humans, and they smiled to see the familiar faces.

The first round of food was oven-baked lamb, glazed with sweet pineapple sauce and seasoned with coarse sea salt. Mashed potatoes were set to the side of the tender meat, buttered and salted with a hint of sour cream. To bring the plate together was a helping of supple carrots and broccoli tossed with sautéed mushrooms, and drizzled by an aromatic garlic sauce.

Undyne's eyes enlarged almost the size of the dinner plates. "That looks awesome, Carmen!" She said to the woman carrying Undyne's plate. Undyne recognized the female from the humans that greeted her and Alphys.

The woman flashed a smile and pointed to another human who carried another plate, "Thank Alonzo! He's the one who made most of the food." She sat Undyne's plate down.

Undyne thanked the other human, "Thanks Alonzo! You're the best!"

Alonzo grinned. "Thanks, Undine!" He said her name wrong on accident. Undyne didn't seem to mind. The humans exited the room, with many of the group thanking them exuberantly.

Undyne elbowed Asgore with her right arm, "Eh, Asgore, these guys are treating us like royalty! Soon people won't know who's king or not! Hah!"

Alphys, who sat on the left of Undyne, and across from Frisk, whispered to herself, "Wow, this is much better than pizza…"

Frisk picked up on the quiet words, and whispered back, "Alphys, it's okay to thank the Mayor." The human smiled, knowing Alphys would only speak to the mayor if she had to. The reptile glanced up at the human from her plate.

"I-I can't! I'm too nervous!"

Said human overheard the conversation, "Ho! Don't worry, Frisk! Your friend there will warm up in time, won't you Alphys?"

The dinosaur in question nodded bashfully, "Y-Yes. Thank you for the f-food!" She shined happily.

"More! I wanna hear more stories!" Joanna and Papyrus shared the opposite end of the table. They seemed to be having a blast.

"MORE? WOWIE, I'VE NEVER HAD A FRIEND WHO WANTED TO HEAR MORE THAN ONE STORY! OKAY! I'LL TELL YOU THE TIME I RESCUED FRISK FROM THE GAUNTLET OF TERROR!" Joanna clapped her hands enthusiastically.

Toriel leaned right to whisper in Frisk's ear, "Do remind me to scold him later for telling tall tales, my child." Frisk giggled to themselves. Poor Papyrus.

Dahlia clapped her hands together, "Okay, everyone! Let's toast to our Underground friends!" She held up a glass of exotic, squeezed juices that was poured earlier. Everyone turned their attention to Dahlia, and raised their glasses in unison. She jovially said the small prayer, "To our new friends, may they live with us as peacefully like the sky and stars above!" Everyone gave a cheer to the speech and lowered their glasses. Mayor Roscoe suddenly remembered something important.

"Ah yes, Asgore. I need to bring you to the next town hall meeting to discuss with the governor. We need to start telling officials about this. But for now, as mayor, I grant you and your kind permission to live near, around, or in the village! The more the merrier! Heck, we may even become a town with your population! The town of Crystallea! Has a nice ring to it." The mayor prattled on to Asgore, who was too busy eating his delicious dinner.

Everyone was digging into the sumptuous food. Frisk found themselves curious about how Papyrus ate it, but forgot about it when they heard a ringing bell. "Okay, second course!" Someone from one of the doors in the room came out, along with a whole other heard of humans.

Small bowls of red soup were delivered. It was a thick tomato soup with basil and parsley. It smelled rich, and a little like boiled chicken. The soup was served with a large slice of butter toasted French bread. The plates of the previous meal were taken away and replaced with the bowls.

The group was amazed once again, and without speaking, reveled in the saltiness of the meal. Frisk enjoyed it a lot.

After everyone was done eating, the mayor stood up, "And now for dessert! Bring in the snack bar!" He waved a hand at the door that had already swung open. A small, wheeled buffet table was brought in. It contained various flavors of ice cream, from Vanilla to Pomegranate Mango Cream. There were also syrups and toppings to the side of the layout. A man in a black suit was going to serve the group. Toriel recognized him as Elijah.

"Good evening everyone! If you'll make a line to my right, I will make sure you all get what you want!" He motioned with his right arm, and everyone followed suit. Papyrus and Joanna were at the back of the line, balling their fists and jumping with excitement. Everyone passed through, getting their favorite flavors and toppings on a waffle cone or glass bowl. Papyrus and Joanna got the most toppings on top of their vanilla ice cream, almost burying it in chocolate sprinkles and caramel syrup with marshmallow sauce.

Before anyone could sit back down, the mayor stopped them with his booming voice, "Come! I have a treat planned for all of us!" He led them to a mini theatre. About twenty plush seats were in front of a large silver screen. Toriel was confused, and Asgore mimicked her feeling. The rest of the group were extremely excited.

Undyne shook Alphys by the shoulders, "I've never been to a real movie theatre! We don't have one in the Underground!"

Alphys felt like her arms were going to fall off, "U-U-U-U-UNDYNE! S-S-S-T-T-OP!"

The fish monster realized what she was doing, "Oops! Sorry Alphys! I got too excited there!" She ran over to one of the velvet seats and patted one to the right of her, motioning for Alphys to sit down. The yellow dinosaur made her way over to where Undyne motioned, right after her dizziness wore off.

"Really? You don't have a movie theatre in the Underground? Well, I guess we'll have to take you to an IMAX sometime!" Dahlia said. She and Toriel sat down together, as did Asgore and Roscoe. Papyrus and Joanna sat down together, slurping their ice cream. A light flashed on the screen, followed by a blue screen. "Okay everyone, let's watch Jurassic World! It's a new movie that came out not too long ago!" Roscoe pointed a remote up to a projector on the ceiling. The lights darkened and the previews started.

Frisk shied away from the group. They decided to let the others enjoy the big screen while Frisk snuck outside. They finished their waffle cone, and opened the door to the large house to go outside. They softly closed the door back so it wouldn't make too much noise.

Frisk walked to the middle of the village square. The mayor's house was at the edge of it, so they didn't walk that far. When the human looked up, their heart beat wildly. A stunning black sky was lit with stars that shone several different colors. The masses of white and cyan dots swirled with the arm of the Milky Way in wisps of blue and turquoise. Mount Ebott loomed over the tiny village, with a full moon to the right of it. It was the most beautiful scene that Frisk had ever laid their eyes upon. Goosebumps arose from their skin from the cool air circulating around them. Frisk's short hair flowed with the wind. The moment was just too perfect. sans, who was making his way down Mount Ebott, just happened to witness the entire display.

His pupils dilated, seeing the human in such awe. It stopped him in his tracks, just to stare at Frisk a little longer. _'they look so… charming. so perfect, it hurts.'_ The skeleton drew a breath of air before continuing to walk towards Frisk. The human was so engrossed in the landscape, they didn't notice the skeleton was only five feet in front of them. sans lifted his brow bone, "ya planning on blinking anytime soon? i heard humans need to do that."

Frisk was startled by the sudden voice and jumped back slightly, losing their balance. sans instantaneously lurched forward and grabbed the human at the sides, pulling them tightly towards his body in an embrace. Frisk's mouth was open, and they found themselves hugging tightly onto sans.

"heh, i knew you were _falling_ for me Frisk." sans chuckled at his own joke, and lightly pushed Frisk off of him.

The human coughed into their hand, "Sorry, you scared me."

The skeleton shrugged, the perpetual grin on his face seemed to grow, "ah, spooky scary skeletons. what'cha gonna do." sans gazed up at the stars. "they're really something, huh?"

Frisk turned their attention to the sky again, "Yeah. I love how the galaxy's arm is so blue." The two stared at the stars for a while before sans took a seat on the ground with his hands stretched out behind him. Frisk followed suit, and sat right by the skeleton.

A harsh current of wind kicked up suddenly, blowing up Frisk's shirt and pants. They shivered and crossed their arms and legs for warmth. sans rose his brow bones, and took off his fur-lined blue jacket. He placed it on Frisk's shoulders. Frisk shot their arms right through the sleeves and zipped it up. "i wanted to _chill_ with you, but i guess i can let it slide for now," sans joked. The human hugged themselves in the jacket. It was surprisingly already warm, but sans didn't have flesh. How did that work? They glanced at sans, who was wearing a plain white t-shirt. Their eyes traced up to the skeleton's face. There were… bags underneath his eyes. Frisk started to notice other things about the skeleton's features. His skull looked like it was ran through an abrasive sponge on the temple area. Frisk traced down to sans' hands. They looked a little dark as well.

"sans, are you okay? You seem… tired," The human asked the skeleton with concern in their voice. He looked like he was about to keel over. sans put a finger to his face, and felt tiny bumps from the cracks across his cheeks and underneath his eyes. _'shit. i need to eat and get some rest.'_

"yeah, don't worry about me. it's just been a long day. hey, i'm feeling a little hungry, wanna go to grillby's with me to get a bite?" sans was hoping Frisk agreed. He felt a little emotionally unstable, and needed someone to fall back on in case something happened. The human contemplated it a little. Frisk had already eaten, but a little bit of fries wouldn't hurt.

"Yeah. It's going to take a while to walk back up though, are you sure about it? The mayor of this village had plenty of food-" Sans got up before Frisk could finish, and grabbed their hand.

"shouldn't you know by now that i don't take the long way? come on, let's go."

Frisk felt the warmth radiating from the bones on sans' hand. It made them flush a little, but before they could form a thought, sans had taken a step backwards. The stinging whoosh of air made the human's eyes close and tear up.

They were in front of Grillby's at Snowdin. How did that even happen? Once again the skeleton interrupted Frisk's thoughts, "well, we didn't come here just to stare at it. let's get in." Still holding the human's hand, sans opened the door and went inside. The place was packed with monsters, and there was only a little room at the bar. Monsters were shooting glasses of tequila and whiskey. Grillby was standing at the bar, drying off every glass that went empty and refilled them with another shot. sans let go of Frisk's hand and held it in front of the human, "hey, wait here. i really don't want to get mixed up with a crowd like this. what did you want? fries?" Frisk nodded, and hugged the jacket around them tightly.

The skeleton squeezed himself through the drunk monsters. "hey grillbz, can you get me a burg and two fry?" The fire elemental slammed down the shot glass he was cleaning, and immediately went to the kitchen in the back. Grillby came back in about thirty seconds with a paper bag soaking with grease. He slapped it on the bar and picked up one of the already accumulating shot glasses. He sighed a little with flame bursting out of his mouth. "It's a rough night. Some people somehow made it an idea in their heads that the barrier was destroyed today." Grillby shook his head. sans raised his brow bones, and looked to the corner of his eye, "well, grillbz, it actually is broken." He took the bag in front of him, and turned around to leave, but not before saying a last word, "oh yeah, don't _burn out_ at work, and put it on my tab, 'kay bro?"

The grinning skeleton went back to the human, leaving a frozen Grillby, "What. What, hey sans! Come back!" It was too late, the pair had already made it out of the bar.

Frisk laughed delightedly, "Way to go!"

sans chuckled right along with the human, "yeah, thanks. hey, let's go over to my house. might be the last time you get to see it before we move up in the world. heh, get it?" The pair went into the house, and right away to sans' door to his room. Frisk remembered the last time they were in there. Oh, the chaos.

sans also remembered when he gave Frisk a way to get in, and was about to ask about it, but decided not to. He didn't want to let Frisk know he could remember the past timelines, though he was pretty sure the human already knew. He opened the door, and the two walked into the mess. Frisk's face lit up in shock, even though they had already seen it once before. sans thrust the greasy bag into the human's hands, and went about to fix the room a little bit so it wouldn't be as distracting. He grabbed the dog out of the tornado pile and threw it out the window violently. The tornado somehow stopped whirring, and everything plopped down on the ground. The flying spaghetti splattered onto the carpet. Gross.

Next, he went to unravel the green sheets and blankets and made the bed messily. It looked okay afterwards. sans pat the bed, signaling Frisk to take a seat. The human cautiously went to sit down, watching sans do his handiwork. The skeleton threw the pillow back on the bed, and grabbed the envelope off the ground. He placed it in the drawer with the socks and trombone. Finally, he turned off the treadmill, and pushed it to the side of the room.

The room looked… Neat? It was certainly better than before, and the purple and blue carpet was more visible now. Sans plopped down beside the human. "there. now pap can't say i'm lazy. hand me the burger, will ya?" He stretched his hand out to receive the delicious meal. Frisk opened the bag and felt the bun yield under their fingers with a crinkle of a paper wrapper. They pulled it out and placed it in the skeleton's waiting palm.

"thanks, frisk." sans took a large bite of the sandwich, swallowing it down in a large gulp. Frisk remembered watching Papyrus eat earlier. It made them curious as to how the brothers even digested food. It was really odd.

The cracks underneath sans' eyes healed right away. His bones became whiter, and he felt much better after the first bite. He suddenly felt the human's eyes watching him intently. He turned to Frisk, who looked away bashfully. "hey, you wanna see how it works? i'll show ya," he said, gripping the edge of his shirt and holding the burger up to his mouth. He lifted up his shirt to expose his ribcage. Sans took a bite, and swallowed. The morsel of food plummeted down before dissolving rapidly in a blue smoke. The smoke then retreated to his ribs and spine. It was an interesting sight, and piqued the human's interest.

Frisk made an "O" with their mouth, and reached to touch the delicate bones. They stroked one of the floating ribs, and was amazed to find it really warm to the touch, almost like skin. The rib started to quiver, and Frisk looked up to see sans gritting his teeth. His cheeks seemed to have a light blue hue, and his eyes were closed tightly.

"ahh… hah, frisk. s-stop please," he said breathily. _'fuck, frisk, why did you have to touch me right there?'_ sans was gripping the edge of his shirt firmly, still raising the shirt. Frisk withdrew their hand quickly. Did they hurt him somehow?

"What's wrong? Does that hurt?" they asked. It would be odd if touching a rib would hurt like that.

sans shook his head, and put the edge of his shirt back down, body still shaking. "no. it doesn't hurt. i'm just… sensitive right there. that's all."

"Sensitive like how? I don't know how it feels, I have skin and all." Frisk pointed to their chest. The hue on sans' face darkened to a much deeper blue. His mind went crazy, ' _you want to know how it feels? it feels like_ _you're_ _jacking off my dick.'_

He didn't say the thought out loud. Instead, he put his burger down on the wrapper, and looked at Frisk evilly, "you wanna know how it feels? well, i'll _show_ you!" He lunged forward at the human, pinning them down on the bed, and slid his hands underneath the jacket to grip Frisk's sides.

His finger bones started to move crazily, tickling the human's ribs. "how does it feel, huh? are you sensitive too?" He laughed giddily, moving to straddle the human down. Frisk was laughing uncontrollably and gasped for air. They tried to grabs sans' arms to make him stop, but the skeleton stood his ground, wiggling his fingers faster.

"S-stop sans! I-I'm gonna pee!" They tried to talk though words muffled by bouts of laughter. sans finally let go and crossed his arms, still on top of the human.

"alright then. but only because i still want to finish my burg'." He got off of the human, and grabbed his unfinished sandwich. In one last bite, he had finished the entire thing.

Frisk was panting, still laying on the bed. They head the paper bag crackle to their right, and witnessed sans taking out a smaller paper bag with fries in it. The skeleton threw his head back, and deposited the fries into his open mouth like a dump truck. Frisk remembered the other fries in the bag. "Hey, you can have mine if you want. I already ate at the Mayor's house." Frisk patted their stomach, and felt how full they still were. sans took the fries out of the bag, and ate them just like the previous ones. Afterwards, he threw the bags and wrapper into the motionless tornado. sans flopped on the bed right next to Frisk.

The human started to feel peace wash over them, like a warm ocean. It was a nice, soothing sensation, almost like falling, and the warmth from sans' jacket only lulled them more. Their eyelids involuntarily drooped, and they felt their body become heavy, like bricks. The tickle fight had taken their last ounce of energy, and without a protest, Frisk fell into a deep sleep. It all happened in only a few moments, and when sans heard light snores, he looked to his left and saw Frisk's calm facial expression.

sans watched their chest rise and fall rhythmically for a while, until he got up from the bed. Frisk's legs were hanging off the side, and the skeleton decided to move the human to a much more comfortable position, and shifted them fully on the mattress. The skeleton thought about lying next to the human and hitting the hay himself, but suddenly remembered that Frisk had previously been with Toriel and the others down at the village. He rose a hand to lightly tap his cheeks with his palm in a mock slap. The bones contacting made a cracking sound.

"shit, i forgot all about that. i hope tori won't make a big deal out of this." sans reached into his shorts pocket, and retrieved a blue-cased cellphone. He tapped on the screen to get to the phone menu and found Toriel's contact number. Tapping the "call" button, he held the phone up to his ear. sans figured calling Toriel was probably quicker than texting her.

 _Mayor's theatre room_

Toriel's robe pocket buzzed and a tinkling ringtone could be heard. The movie was almost over as the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Indominus Rex duked it out. The goat frantically felt for her pocket, and became flustered when her friends stared back to see the commotion. She finally found her phone, and smiled cheekily at the group, excusing herself from the room. She let the door close softly before tapping the "answer button."

"Yes, hello? This is Toriel," She answered.

"hey, tori. it's sans. just wanted to let ya know that frisk is with me in snowdin. they're crashed out, so i'm just gonna let them sleep over. is that alright?" The skeleton spoke softly to let the human sleep.

"What? Frisk is with you?" Toriel opened the door to see if Frisk was sitting with their friends. The movie was at the best part! When she couldn't find said human, she closed the door and puffed out her cheeks. "Oh my, I did not know they were gone. Thank you for telling me, sans. I probably would have gone insane if I had noticed earlier!" The goat grinned to herself.

"you didn't know they weren't there? geez tori, what happened to being protective over your _kid_?" sans let out a subtle joke. He heard a howl of laughter on the other side. "well, i'm beat, so i'll be hitting the sack too. take care."

"You too, sans! Say hello to Frisk when they wake up, and do come over to the mayor's home if it's possible tomorrow morning. Goodbye." Toriel hung up the phone. She huffed before opening the door to the mini theatre and stepping inside to watch whatever was left of the flick.

 _sans' room_

The skeleton put the cellphone on the dresser by the bed, hooking it up to a charger. He looked back at the sleeping human and the enticing bed. It had been a while since he last took a nice, deep sleep, and the fluffy blankets looked _so_ welcoming. sans almost dragged himself the few feet to the bed, and could barely muster the willpower to pull the sheets out from under the human. He jumped onto the soft cushion and covered himself and Frisk. He clapped his hands together, and all of the light in the room went off.

sans shared the pillow with the sleeping Frisk. They were facing him, and sans could swear that the human looked like a scene from a fairytale. Frisk looked so peaceful, and the little light from the streetlamps outside shone on their skin softly. sans reached out a hand to skim their cheek, and ran a digit down the soft skin. ' _it's so soft and warm. maybe we're not so different after all, eh frisk?'_ He kept stroking the human's cheek gently until he felt a wave of drowsiness. It felt like a train had just hit him with a bunch of warm feathers. sans let his arm fall limp, and he descended radically into a deep sleep.

An eerie silhouette of a flower waited outside the door to the house. It waited like the plague. An equally haunting figure stood out in the distance, watching the flower with a creepy smile.

" _What an opportunity..."_

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Lovingly Edited by Ms. Luck!

Okay! This chapter was shorter, but I felt like it needed to end there. Things are starting to pick up a little, it seems. Don't worry! I'm not making this stuff up as I go, I have a plan! A very, detailed plan. Like a damn map. Anyways, this will be a pretty long story, and I need to inform you about my update shit. I'm a college student, sooo… homework. Work. Life. Yeah. I will try to update every week! That's a lot of writing for me. Like, ten pages. Also, someone offer to be my proofreader: Positions open. Anywho, the boringness will end as soon as I get the introductions out of the way. Last thing, I can't make jokes. Jokes are my weakness….


	3. Rekindled Relationships

Tall grass swayed back and forth peacefully in the soft breeze. Splashes of warm sunshine peeked through a spattering of light and fluffy clouds onto the plain. Frisk was laying underneath the only tree that dared to stand on its own in the flat landscape. They opened their eyes slowly to see brilliant green leaves above them. Knowing that they needed to get up sometime soon, they lifted themselves off of their side, and stood up slowly. There was nothing but tall grass for miles.

Frisk instinctively started to run in a random direction. They started to sprint, feeling the incoming air stinging their eyes. They felt their heart beat faster, their lungs trying to suck in more air. The feel of pure adrenaline streamed through their veins, making them feel as if cold water was splashed onto their body.

Why were they running? Frisk could barely form a cohesive thought, and wanted to only run faster and faster into the grass. It felt so free, so nice to be away from the bonds of worry. Their body started to feel fatigue, but Frisk kept running. It was getting a little harder to pick their legs off of the ground, like it was made of mushy moss. Frisk took a moment to look at where they were stepping, and nearly lost control of their sprint. A black, gooey substance was coating the grass at the roots, and started to get thicker the farther Frisk ran. The human started to regain their train of thought and decided it was a good time to look back. Out of sheer fright, Frisk tripped face first into the black substance, tumbling a few feet and getting coated in muck.

A giant figure of a skinny, dark man in a black cloak stared at the tiny human. It had the smile of the Cheshire cat, and soulless eyes that bore holes into Frisk's soul. The man stood there, haunting, looming. Thick, dark smoke emanated from the bottom of the creature's cloak, coating all of the grass with the same goop at the roots. Frisk's heart almost ceased beating, but they quickly got back up with trembling limbs and stood to stare at the man. He swiftly shook his head side to side, as if to say that Frisk shouldn't have gotten up.

Suddenly, thin, white arms burst out from the opening in the cloak, with massive, black claws pointing downwards. The man knelt down and slammed his hands into the sticky ground, shaking the entire field with a deafening roar, like the very plates of the Earth had shifted. Frisk lost their balance and landed onto their hands and knees. The earthquake produced by the man's action shattered the ground, bringing forth more of the dingy liquid that had immobilized Frisk. The human had never felt anything like it before.

Frisk found themselves surrounded by an ocean of the stuff, only surviving on a small piece of turf that dared to stay afloat. They decided to remain on their hands and knees, staring at the man's dark, black eyes. He rose back up, black liquid dripping from his equally black claws, and placed a finger up to his lipless smile.

" _Shhh_ _… I hear that you have a little person inside. Is that true?"_ The man hissed at Frisk with a snake-like voice. It was deep and foreboding, and left Frisk with their hairs standing on end. The human was paralyzed with fear, glued to the spot.

" _Ah hah. So you do have a little person inside. I can hear them. They really want to come out and play. I won't let that happen just yet. Need more time. More time to deplete_ it. _More time to make_ it _go away."_ The figure tapped his finger against the corner of its open smile, making a sharp clicking noise. Frisk flinched with every clack, which only seemed to amuse the dark man in front of them. " _Then I'm done here, for now. Don't tell anyone about our little secret. If you do, I'll make sure you can't get rid of_ it. _I'll make sure you keep_ it _for the rest of your insignificant life. Goodbye."_ He said the last part in a sing-song way, lingering on the last syllable. When his short speech ended, his body plunged straight into the ground, dipping the black liquid into a downward spiral where he descended. The last sound Frisk heard was an eerie, maniacal laughter that echoed into their ears as they were pulled in by the strong current of the whirlpool.

It almost resonated into their soul, plaguing them with vivid visions of them being murdered brutally. Frisk and their piece of land spun around the center of the whirlpool, getting dragged further down into darkness. They threw up yellow bile on the earth beneath them, seeing the images of blood and gore in their mind. Their guts were being pulled out by white hands, then feed to the man who ate them greedily with a black tongue darting out of his mouth. Frisk's imagination went wild, and they threw up more, heaving and coughing. They almost felt that the brief visions were real, feeling their innards pulled out in bloody segments, fed into the man's black mouth.

Frisk started hearing voices, " _frisk, get up!"_ The human ignored the demand and was rooted to the spot. They were at the middle of the pool, spinning in wild circles, and finallysucked into the mass of black goop. Frisk was suffocating, trying desperately to breathe, squeezing their eyes tightly. Liquid entered their lungs and Frisk tried to hack it out, desperately clawing their way up to the surface above. The feeling of being drowned made them panic, and their limbs started to feel detached from their body. Frisk grabbed their chest and squeezed the flesh harshly, rocking their head back and forth, telling their mind not to breathe anymore. They only dropped deeper and deeper into the blackness, with no hope in sight.

" _frisk, please wake up!"_ A voice called out again. Frisk felt hands reaching out and shaking their body in the thick ocean. The human gasped again to breathe, but simply couldn't find any air to live on. They were doomed to die.

" _frisk, wake the fuck up_!" A hard object hit Frisk's face. They opened their eyes to see what it was, and started to see a light coming from the depths of the ocean. It was small, faded, but still there. Another hard object seemed to hit the other side of their face. The light became bigger, and Frisk immediately started to swim towards it. The liquid in the ocean started to thin out, and they could finally move faster. They swam fiercely, tugging their arms and legs to reach the seemingly safe haven…

With a final gasp, Frisk broke the ocean's surface, and awoke outside their dream, eyes open in the real world, gasping for actual air. They were covered in a sticky film of sweat on their skin, and beads of it ran down their face. Frisk was greeted with the sight of sans standing over the bed, the skeleton's left hand raised in the air. His grin was turned into a grimace, brow bones knit into worry. Once sans saw Frisk was awake, he lowered his hand quickly to place it on Frisk's shoulder.

"hey, buddy, what happened? you started to twitch like crazy, are you okay?" The concerned skeleton's eyes darted to scan Frisk's face for any signs of distress.

Frisk was still breathing heavily, but they pushed themselves to a sitting position. They felt a sharp stinging on their cheeks from when sans had slapped them. The jacket they had on insulated their body heat, which had made them sweat profusely. They unzipped the jacket and took it off, placing it near them on the bed. The shirt stuck to their moist skin, and itched in various places on their back. sans sat by the human, trying to ignore the way his friend's shirt left little to the imagination, and rubbed their sweaty, tense back.

Frisk couldn't remember what happened. They tried their hardest to recount the dream, but their mind came up empty. "I don't know. All I remember is swimming… Then a bright light. That's it." Frisk bowed their head with their eyes closed. _'What happened...?'_

sans sighed. "it's alright. you're awake, i guess that's all that matters now." He stopped rubbing Frisk's back and grabbed his jacket. The fur on the inside was moist with Frisk's sweat, but he put it on anyways, leaving the front unzipped. sans jumped off of the bed, and walked over to his phone on the dresser. The time was 9:03 in the morning. He assumed that the others back in the village would probably be waking up soon, which meant there was going to be breakfast. The skeleton unhooked the phone charger, and stuffed the phone into his pocket. Before they went to the village, sans wanted to have a very important discussion with the human.

…No more waiting; that _subject_ just had to be talked about.

"hey, frisk. i know this might be a bad time, but i need to talk to you about something." sans' back was facing the human, and he had his hands in his pockets. The pupils in his eyes were no longer visible. Frisk was still in shaky over their dream, but turned their attention to sans anyways. No point in over-thinking something they couldn't even remember.

"Listen." Frisk couldn't put their hands on it, but sans' voice sounded…off. Different. Alien, even. "You probably know by now that I can remember what you did. I remember when you killed everyone… I even remember when you killed me and my _brother._ " sans' arms started trembling in anger at the last word. "Funny how that works, huh?" The skeleton's short laugh at the end was anything but humorous. It was as empty as the monster's eye sockets.

Frisk felt guilt wash over them immediately, followed by cold flashes of alarm. sans remembered! This wasn't going well, this was very bad. They stared at sans' back, trying to come up with the words to explain themselves.

"sans, I wasn't myself, I couldn't do anything! _You don't understa_ -!" Frisk tried to explain quickly, but sans's glare cut them off.

"…understand _what_?" sans angrily spun around to face Frisk. His voice was calm, too calm. " _understand that i could remember when you reset?_ " His voice was turning raspy. "understand that you **killed everyone in cold blood**?!" He started to shout, losing himself to his emotional rage. Tears spilled from the corner of his eyes, the left pupil blazing blue and yellow. WHAT DO I NOT _UNDERSTAND_ , FRISK?" The skeleton pointed an accusing finger at Frisk. This was probably not going as he planned, but the words spilled out like an overflowing glass of water, "NOW, I'M STUCK WITH THESE MEMORIES, FRISK. I CAN'T GO BACK, AND I CAN'T FORGET." Spatters of tears dripped on the fur-lined hood of his jacket. His raised hand fell, and he started to calm down a little bit. The outburst had let out some of the steam, but he wasn't done yet. He heavily sighed, bowed his head, and continued his rant. "NOT THAT IT MATTERS ANYWAY. IT CAN ALL BE _RESET_. and there is _nothing_ I can do to stop you."

Eventually, Sans looked up to the human. Frisk had tried to make themselves as small as possible, small hands clutching his sweat-soaked shirt in fear and shame.

That didn't make sans feel any better about his outburst. Frankly, it made him feel even worse. Goddammit it.

The skeleton took a deep breath. The glow on his one eye dissipated. "Frisk. listen," he began, as his voice slowly shifted to sans' usual tone. "i've been studying these timelines. i couldn't do anything to stop you from resetting, and …i eventually gave up. but in this timeline, you're different. i don't know what happened, maybe you thought about your actions and decided to help us out. or maybe you just wanna be a little shit and take it all away, _again_. it's a mystery." The skeleton shrugged and returned his hand to his pocket, "whatever your reason is, i guess you'll tell me on your own. i just want you to promise something. i want you to promise me you're not going to reset again." sans looked up at Frisk, who just sat there, listening. "i don't want to go back again, frisk. we're all finally free, i've seen the overworld for the first time. don't take this away from everyone." He ended with a final shake of his head. Frisk had to understand this time that everyone was finally happy.

The human looked down at the carpet. They knew their friend was right; if they reset, they would make all of the sacrifices made by others a waste. "…sans, I promise. I won't do it again, I swear." They stared back up at sans' eyes, "I promise to everyone that I won't reset again, okay?" They gripped the edge of the bed, turning their knuckles white. Frisk's promise felt genuine, and sans nodded his head in approval.

"…alright. if you end up breaking that promise, _i'll make sure to break something off of you_." sans' pupils disappeared for an instant, before coming back and giving the human a nonchalant shrug. "i can't stop you from resetting, but I can give you a pretty convincing reason not to. capiche?"

Frisk slowly nodded.

So, it was finally done. Probably. Frisk had promised not to reset. Maybe it wasn't genuine, but fuck it, sans had stopped caring long ago. Might as well go along for now. At least he had gotten the human to admitting about the resets. That was something that has been bugging him for a while. Frisk absentmindedly nodded to the statement again. It seemed fair, and breaking promises was a pretty nasty offence. They sighed, and jumped off of the bed to go over to sans.

The skeleton observed the human's movements, and saw them raise their hands to ask for a hug in attempt at an apology. sans grinned and hugged the human tightly. "i forgive you, but you need to tell me what happened. we can talk about that later, though. i'm pretty sure pap is gonna call me here in a bit." sans let go of the human and placed his hands back in his pocket.

As if on cue, sans' pocket started vibrating with a snazzy chiptune ringtone. sans reached for his phone, and looked at the screen to see who was calling. It was Papyrus, as sans had guessed. He tapped the screen to answer the call.

"hey bro, what's up?" He answered

"Hi! Funny Bones told me to call you!" A little girl's voice screeched at the other end of the line. sans was very confused.

"uh, hi? where's papyrus?" he asked the little girl who had his brother's phone. He heard giggling in the background, then the girl replied back.

"Funny Bones is right here, you wanna talk to him?" She giggled in the skeleton's ear through the speaker.

"yeah." sans really didn't know what was going on, but he figured it was a nice change of pace. He heard shuffling from the speaker.

"HI SANS! WHERE ARE YOU? ARE YOU WITH FRISK? TELL THEM I SAID HI!" Papyrus finally was at the phone.

sans looked at the human and covered the microphone, "pap says hi." Frisk waved their hand silently. "frisk says hi back. anyways, i'm here at our house in snowdin. who's that girl?"

"THAT'S JOANNA! SHE'S MY FRIEND! I GOTTA GO, WE'RE GOING TO PLAY A VIDEO GAME!" Papyrus hung up the phone.

sans heard a tone on his phone that signaled the end of the call. _'well, that was sudden.'_ He assumed that the two of them should be heading to the village. "okay, frisk, ready to go?" He put his cellphone back in his pocket.

"Yeah, I'm hungry." Frisk felt their stomach growl. They couldn't wait to eat the food at the mayor's house again!

"hi hungry, i'm sans." The skeleton's grin widened. Frisk puffed out their cheeks and played along.

"sans! My name is not hungry!" They crossed their arms in mock anger.

"oh, sorry. my mistake. hello, not hungry." sans chuckled at his joke.

Frisk made a raspberry sound at sans. They were glad he was back to his old self again.

 _At the mayor's house, Asgore's room_

Light streamed in through two white curtained windows onto Asgore's face. The sleeping king twitched a little before opening his eyes to look up at the white ceiling. The bed was so comfortable, he hardly wanted to get up. The crisp, white sheets and soft, down comforter felt nice against his fur.

After staring at the ceiling for a while, the king decided to sit up and stretch his massive arms. He yawned loudly, and scooted himself to sit at the edge of the bed, placing his feet on a plush mat. Asgore had removed his cape and armor the previous night, leaving him in a white long sleeved shirt, and stretchy, black pants.

The king stood up and went to the window, drawing the curtain back. The mayor's house was two storied, and Asgore and his companions had slept on the second floor. The monster king's room had a gorgeous view of the mountain, with some of the village's houses planted out in front. The rising sun beamed down on the rooftops, and the village was already bustling with activity. Children were playing carefree in the plaza, and merchants had set up shop on the edges. Asgore decided it would be perfect to live here. He smiled, and let go of the edge of the curtain. It was time to wake the others and tell the monsters in the Underground the good news.

Asgore walked out of his room, and down the hallway to Toriel's room. It had been a long time since they were alone. He knocked on the white washed door, and heard shuffling feet. The door opened slowly, and revealed Toriel's burgundy eyes. Asgore had to catch his breath for a moment, seeing his ex-wife's sparkling eyes had brought back old memories.

"H-Hello, Toriel! I was wondering if you were awake!" The king stammered out. He unconsciously had stood straight up, arms at his sides. Toriel opened the door all the way, smiling at her old husband's antics. She was already dressed in her robe.

"Good morning, Asgore. Did you sleep well?" She cocked her head slightly.

Asgore found himself fumbling over his words. "Yes! I ah, I mean I slept well! How did you sleep?" Why was he so nervous? He mentally rolled his eyes, ' _I feel like when we first met. This is ridiculous.'_

Toriel giggled, "I guess you could say I slept so well, I did it with my eyes _closed_!" She started to laugh, but covered her mouth right away in case she woke someone up. Toriel looked around the hallway, and pulled Asgore in her room. He almost fell backwards.

"Woah, Toriel! Hold your horses there!" The king steadied himself, and Toriel closed the door softly.

" _Neigh_ , Asgore! I'm a goat, not a horse!" The queen laughed again, this time without covering her mouth.

The king couldn't help it, and laughed along with her. He wiped a tear from his eye. Toriel was in very high spirits today, and the king became infatuated with it. He tried to tell a joke of his own.

"Oh, my _b-a-a-a-a-d_ , I didn't mean to be rude!" He laughed gleefully, holding his gut.

Toriel snorted with giddiness, and ended up falling to the floor on her behind, arms grasping her stomach. Asgore flinched back and tried to help her up, extending an arm out to help her.

"Oh! Toriel, are you okay! Let me give you a hand- OOF!" He was pulled down by Toriel to the ground.

"Why only a hand, when I can have you?" Toriel burst out. She gasped and her paws shot up to cover her mouth again, a blush building on her face. The king had fallen right in front of the queen on his hands and knees. He saw her reaction, and took a moment to process what she said. His ears flattened back, and his face flushed red. They locked eyes for a moment.

"Hah… I guess our jokes _goat_ out of hand, hah…" The king threw out a last pun, breaking contact with Toriel's eyes to sit up from his previous position. Toriel's face was blazing red, paws still on her mouth. She began to giggle a little bit. Her fits started to become laughs which evolved to howls of laughter.

"Oh, Asgore! I miss this." She stifled little bouts of laughed in between words, "I cannot believe we came apart all those years ago." Toriel wiped tears from her eyes. She sighed happily, and gazed at Asgore's emerald green eyes. The king was blushing, and made a bold move to grasp Toriel's hand that was still raised to her mouth. He brought it close to his chest, and let her feel his heart beat erratically. She widened her eyes at the feat.

"I missed you so much, Tori… I felt alone when we were apart. I tried to replicate your butterscotch pie so many times, but I could never get it right." Asgore curled his lip into a sulk. Toriel was holding her breath, it was unimaginable that this was happening right now. Her own heart beat along with Asgore's, wild and fluttering.

"Asgore… I…" Toriel couldn't find the words to say for once. Asgore leaned forward until they were inches apart from each other's face. The paw in Asgore's own shook with anticipation. Green eyes met her red ones, and the two gazed at each other for a moment before closing and…

A loud bang came from the door.

"TORIEL! HAVE YOU SEEN ASGORE? HE'S NOT IN HIS ROOM!" The voice of Papyrus came through the wood. The two goats jumped, breaking the moment, and scrambled to get up off the floor. Toriel was the first one on her feet, and she fled to the door, grabbing the doorknob firmly.

"Ah, Papyrus! No, I haven't seen Asgore! Maybe he's with the mayor?" She flipped her head back to Asgore, and twitched her head to a closet in the room. Asgore whipped his head to where she indicated. It was a fairly large, yellow armoire, easily capable of fitting the king. He sped to it, and shoved himself into it, closing the panels in a rush, resulting in a loud bang. Surprisingly, there were no clothes inside, only a bar on top with a few hangers on it.

Toriel blew a puff of air, and opened the door to reveal Papyrus holding Joanna's hand. The child waved a hand sloppily at the queen,. Papyrus looked around the room in suspicion.

"Hiya, goat lady! The big goat isn't with daddy!"

"WHAT WAS THAT NOISE? IT SOUNDED LIKE A DOOR CLOSING!" The skeleton peeked his head in further. It wasn't like the queen to lie, so he dismissed the sound for something else. "ANYWAYS, IF YOU SEE ASGORE, TELL HIM THE MAYOR IS LOOKING FOR HIM."

Toriel shook her head up and down nervously, "Yes, yes. I will be sure to inform Asgore. Now, Papyrus, if you don't mind, I have to, ah, brush my fur." She grinned toothily at the tall skeleton. She was such a bad liar.

Luckily, Papyrus bought it. He shrugged and walked off with Joanna down the hallway, knocking on another door.

Toriel slammed her own door shut, and paced over to the armoire. She grabbed the handles and thrust the doors open. Asgore nearly tumbled out, but caught himself on his feet. Toriel let go of the doors and crossed an arm over her chest, putting a paw up to her forehead.

"Ah, I cannot believe I just lied to dear Papyrus! Why did I do that?" She shook her head and turned away from Asgore. "No matter, it cannot be helped now." She wrung her hands and walked to the bed to plop down with her head hung in shame.

Asgore followed her to the bed, and knelt by her, "Don't be so hard on yourself, Tori." He placed a paw on her shoulder. She remained unmoved, head in her hands. "…Well, I guess I should go find Roscoe. I wonder what he needs me for."

Asgore rose up and went to the door. He looked back at Toriel. She was still sitting placidly on the bed. With a light huff, he opened the door and excused himself from the room.

Toriel flopped to her back on the bed. _'What just happened? Was Asgore going to…Kiss me?'_ She placed a backwards paw on her forehead. She still felt her heart fluttering like a school girl's. _'Ridiculous, what am I thinking? I left him long ago…but yet, I find myself at his mercy again.'_ She smiled to herself. _'I guess… Whatever happens, will happen! Who am I to decide fate?'_ She chuckled to herself, and hoisted herself off of the mattress with determination. She suddenly heard angry shouting down the hallway.

"PAPYRUS, WHAT THE HECK DO YOU WANT?!" Undyne yelled at the tall skeleton posted outside her door. She had actually slept in Alphys' room, and awoke in a bad mood from the knocking outside the door. The fish monster was only dressed in her black tank top, with black spandex underwear. She was fuming, and had unintentionally ripped the door off of the hinges. She held it in a _very_ solid grip above her head, looking like her fingers had fused with the doorknob.

Joanna screamed, running away in fear down the hallway, tiny arms flailing. Papyrus reached a hand out to her, but it was too late.

"HEY, YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO SCARE HER!" The skeleton reprimanded his friend for once, crossing his bony arms in front of him, tapping the ground with his boot. Undyne didn't take it. She slammed the door to the hard, wooden floor, and growled loudly, reaching out to strangle the skeleton's neck!

"U-Undyne, stop!" Alphys reached out to grab Undyne's arms to stop her. She found herself being flung along with Undyne's actions.

"AARRGGHH, PAPYRUS, I'M GOING TO SLAM YOUR FACE INTO THE WALL!" The fish monster felt a small weight on her arms, and tried to shake it off. When the weight didn't disappear, she looked at her limbs and found a dizzy dinosaur.

"Oh, Alphys! What are you doing?" Undyne stopped and let Alphys off of her arms. The dinosaur's eyes were spiraling, and she held her head to stop the room from spinning.

"Undyne… D-Don't hurt Papyrus." Alphys managed to sputter out. She calmed her dizziness off, and looked at Undyne with pleading eyes. Her glasses were askew, and Undyne couldn't help but falter. Alphys' pink 'Mew Mew Kissy Cutie' undershirt and turquoise boy shorts were too adorable to resist.

"Fine. But only for you, Alphys." Blue hands reached out to straighten Alphys' glasses. It seemed that the fish monster forgot all about Papyrus to tend to her to-be girlfriend. Papyrus decided to edge away from the couple to pursue his human friend.

"JOANNA, COME BACK! SHE DIDN'T MEAN IT!" He started to run off in a sprint to catch up to the wailing child. No doubt she was probably scared out of her mind.

Toriel had just happened to witness the entire scene, "Oh my. I guess we will have to pay for that…"

Asgore ignored the shouts from down the hallway, but then felt the turbulence of a screaming child speeding past him. He stopped in his tracks to turn around and see Papyrus gunning it towards him with a worried face. Asgore rose a hand in greeting, "Good morning, Papyru-" He was cut off as soon as Papyrus sprinted by him.

"SORRY SIRE, I CAN'T TALK!" The skeleton's voice faded as he followed his friend.

Asgore was left with a friendly face and hand still raised. What in the world was going on this morning? Had everyone gone insane? He dropped his hand, and looked back to where the two ran off. He shrugged and felt a presence at his back.

"Well, it seems everyone is a little crazy today, wouldn't you say?" Toriel was behind Asgore, hands folded into her large sleeves. She was looking at Asgore's incredulous face, her eyebrow raised with a smirk on her face.

The king pouted a little, still facing the same direction, "I suppose it looks that way."

Toriel shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Come now, and let us go see what Mayor Roscoe requested you for." She headed down the hallway, with the king following her like a lost lamb. The two walked down the corridor, and came upon a large den.

The den area had a large flat screen television mounted onto the wall, and a large, beige sofa; it looked like it could easily seat twelve people. An ample, blue recliner held the mayor, who was focusing on a newspaper article. When he heard footsteps coming into the room, he put down the newspaper to look up at his guests.

"There you are! I sent the skeleton and my daughter to go get you, but they ended up running back here! What do you suppose got into them?" Roscoe set the paper aside on a coffee table beside the chair and stood up, placing his hands on his sides. His face held an unyielding smile, and continued on without an explanation from the two monsters. "Oh well. I wanted to know what you would like for breakfast! It would be an honor to send you off to your kingdom well fed. I know it's going to be a long day for all of you, and it's important to have a good breakfast to set your mind on the right track."

Asgore bowed deeply. "We are all very humbled by your kindness, Mayor Roscoe. You and your villagers have been so friendly to us, and we are sure to return the favor."

The mayor threw his head back in laughter. "Ho! Any time, Asgore! And please, just call me Roscoe, don't be so formal! Come, come, let's go to the kitchen! The villagers are waiting to know what you want to eat! Oh, I almost forgot! Tell Alphys and Undyne to come too!" He waved his hand and left the room.

"Oh, that's right," Asgore turned around to walk back. "I will go tell them." He was about to leave, but Toriel placed a hand on his arm.

"I will go instead. You should go with Roscoe, he seems to really like your company." She left in the direction of the rooms without another word. Asgore took her advice and followed the Mayor.

Once the men reached the dining room, the mayor suddenly stopped. "Hm, Asgore, where is Frisk? Toriel told me last night that they had left with another friend in the Underground. Are they coming to breakfast as well?"

Asgore stroked his blonde beard in thought, "I'm not sure. I will ask Toriel to call them once she and the others come here." They decided to have a seat and wait for the others.

A few minutes later, the women arrived at the dining room. The mayor and the king were having a discussion about building houses in the village of Crystallea. Undyne sat on one of the chairs with Alphys right by her. Toriel sat by Asgore to listen to the arrangements.

"Are you sure it will be okay to build homes in the village, Roscoe? We have not talked to the officials of the state yet. I'm not entirely sure that humans are ready to accept us Monsters." Asgore leaned back in the chair.

The mayor pondered the consequences. "Yes, I see. But Asgore, this isn't merely a housing issue, or an acceptance issue. This is more of a political one. Every being on the planet has rights of one type or another, and I know that the Government can't pass your whole race off as some circus. We live in a more progressive time where everyone has become more cooperative… or at least, most people. That doesn't mean that you won't gain some publicity, but it does mean that you will be recognized as creatures with a conscience. That does mean that you will have to live up on the surface whether they like it, or not." The man took a deep breath. "And, to be honest, it is best if you get recognition early. As you may know, not everyone will look forward to such a dramatic change. But, people are inspired by actions such as this. It is imperative you get a leg up early." Roscoe finished his debate.

The king thought about the problem. What Roscoe said had made perfect sense; the humans couldn't keep the monsters down in a cavern forever. Besides, they had all of their memories erased, and it seemed like there were no records to recount a monster-human war.

Asgore looked at the mayor in the eye, "Do you really think so, Roscoe? My people have been awaiting the day when they could finally see the outside world. If there are issues, I am sure that we could all wait just a little longer, until everything is perfect."

"Nothing will be perfect. There will be crashes, and there will be rebirths, Asgore. The best you can do as a leader will depend on how well you handle the highs and lows." Mayor Roscoe stood up and reached a hand out to Asgore. "Now, as the mayor of the village of Crystallea, I give you and your people permission to settle here. With Toriel, Undyne, and Alphys as my witnesses."

Asgore flew out of his seat and grasped the mayor's hand tightly. "I accept." That was all the closure the king needed to tell the monsters. Now, the mayor and the king were in full agreement, and ready to tackle the problems that would surely come later.

"Well then! Now that the more serious matter is out of the way, Toriel, the king told me you would call Frisk and his friend for us. I would like to know if they will be joining us for breakfast!" Roscoe was beaming again.

Toriel bowed her head, "Yes, of course." She left the room politely, going into the entryway of the home. She grabbed the cellphone from her pocket, and dialed Frisk's number.

 _A few minutes earlier, in Snowdin._

Frisk and sans were about to exit the door when they heard a large commotion outside. The two glanced at each other before sans finally opened the door. Outside, monsters were shouting at the entrance to Grillby's, and the mob reached all the way to the corner of the "librarby." Monster kid was there too, but then he saw Frisk and sans exiting the cabin and ran up to the human.

"Hey! Did ya hear? Someone said the barrier was destroyed! Is it true? What did you hear?!" The Monster Kid pounded Frisk with questions, and the human smiled nervously. Then they pointed at sans. The skeleton was staring at the crowd in amusement.

"worked like a charm. hey kid, go get grillby for me, i'm pretty sure he's _fired_ up about this." sans closed his eyes to slits and started to chuckle to himself. Monster kid scurried away to go find Grillby. Frisk rose an eyebrow in question, but sans waved his hand in dismissal. "asgore will tell everyone later. for now, i wanna mess with grillbz for a little bit."

The crowd at the tavern started to part, and out came the fire elementals following Monster Kid. Grillby was burning so bright, the edges of his flames were blue. The duo went to where sans and Frisk were standing, and the large crowd loomed after them.

Grillby stomped over to sans. "See what you did?!" He flailed his arms in the direction of the mass of monsters, "They're all asking me the same thing! Make it stop!" Grillby straightened his glasses, and then placed a hand on his hip expectantly.

sans started to giggle, "hey grillby, if you couldn't stand the _heat,_ why didn't you tell them it was a lie?"

The fire from Grillby started to burn brighter in response, causing smoke to emanate from his tuxedo. The skeleton's grin grew insanely huge.

"grillbz, is something burning? oh wait, that's just _you_. you really shouldn't _smoke_ , i heard it's bad for you." sans egged the fire being on. It worked very well.

"Stop. It. sans." The crowd behind Grillby started to fall back due to the flares bouncing off of him. Frisk hid behind sans like a shield.

"hey grillbz, it's not too _bright_ when you decide to set everything on fire. no, wait, yes it is!" sans slapped his kneecap and laughed loudly, almost keeling over in the process.

Grillby yelled in frustration and melted the snow around him in a flash of heat. He threw his hands up in the air and stomped off, flipping the bird to sans as he parted the crowd once again. Frisk cautiously came out from behind their friend. They saw sans' face lit up with a deviant smile, covered in a dust of fine soot.

"he he, okay, that's enough for now. let's get out of here before we get mobbed." sans shoved his hands in his pockets.. A ringtone sounded in Frisk's pocket, and they answered. It was Toriel.

"Hey Mom." Frisk answered casually.

"Good morning, my child. Did you sleep well?" Toriel sounded delighted, reveling in Frisk calling her "mom."

"Good morning, and yes, I slept okay. How is everyone?" Frisk asked.

"Everyone is doing fine. I was going to ask you and sans if the both of you were going to come for breakfast."

Frisk nodded their head, even though Toriel couldn't see it, "Yeah, we're on our way now."

"Oh, good! We will all wait for you here. Goodbye, my child!" Toriel smiled to herself.

"Bye mom." Frisk hung up the phone. sans was already heading towards the outskirts of Snowdin. The human put their phone in pocket, and ran after the skeleton.

sans waited until they got out of view before stopping to face Frisk.

"you don't think we're going to walk all the way over there, do you?" He grabbed Frisk's hand quickly, and once again teleported before Frisk could think.

Frisk shut their eyes during the transition, and opened them back up to see that they were in a forest clearing. They looked around to see the village downhill from where they were at. The mayor's huge house could be seen easily. Frisk started to head in the direction of the abode, but felt their hand still grasped with sans'. They turned to see sans hesitating, looking at the village below.

The skeleton looked almost worried. He tightened his grip, and for once Frisk took notice of the warmth of his hand. The bones were so smooth, they felt almost like silken cloth. The human stroked the digits with their thumb, feeling the absence of texture. sans realized that he was still holding the human's hand, and a cyan hue covered the bridge of his nose.

"heh, sorry. i feel a little nervous, that's all. the only human i've seen is you, even though i'm basically your skeletal structure." sans accidently went off on a scientific note, revealing his anxiousness even further to Frisk. They squeezed san's hand reassuringly.

"Don't worry. We can walk slow, if you want." Frisk smiled at the skeleton, and sans saw the color of Frisk's eyes light up. He noticed the beautiful golden-honey color of their eyes, the way they sparkled in the glints of sunshine. He almost lost himself, but realized quickly that he was staring. His blush spread across his cheeks unintentionally.

"uh-uh yeah. let's walk slowly." sans found himself stuttering over his words for the first time. ' _what the heck is wrong with me? last night was an accident, but this is different. i feel so... warm.'_ He swam in his thoughts. Frisk observed the blush across the skeleton's face. They wondered if that area was warmer, and unthinkingly reached out a hand to brush across sans' cheeks.

It was surely warmer than his hands. Frisk locked their eyes onto san's pupils, which were now staring back in shock. Frisk held their breath and found themselves paralyzed, one hand on the cheekbone, and the other holding sans' own hand. Their heartrate skyrocketed, and they felt an uneasy fluttering in their stomach.

' _Crap, what the hell am I doing?'_ Frisk wanted to die. They felt extreme embarrassment crawl onto their face as a deep blush. Staring into the depths of sans' pupils, they finally saw that they were a light blue color.

"frisk… what… what are you doing?" sans wanted to look away, but also stay in the moment forever. He felt blood rush through the veins in his bones, and his legs went weak.

"I uh… nothing." Frisk let go of the skeleton's hand harshly, and broke the eye contact with him. They briskly walked to the village with a massive redness on their face. sans was left behind, frozen still to the ground. He watched the human walk away, then looked down at the hand that Frisk was holding. His other hand went up to touch the area where Frisk had touched.

"frisk…" He shook his head to clear it. Today was going to be an off day for him.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Edited Lovingly By Miss Luck and Miss Sleep

Woo! Took me a while. Thanks for the support, you guys! Also, in response to Pep, I do long chapters for continuity really. Makes it flow nicer! Thank you!


	4. Breaking Rumors

**A/N: Before I start this chapter, I feel the need to stress something for some reason. A village is just a smaller step than a town, which is why I refer to Crystallea as a village. With more population, however, it will become a town. Sorry, but I felt the need to state this because it never occurred to me that it might be taken the wrong way. Thank you for your time.**

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Frisk ran as fast as they could, ignoring their flustered face. They tried to push unnecessary thoughts from their mind, but found themselves still thinking of the way sans looked at them. The skeletone had blushed and just stood there, not saying anything! Why didn't sans coolly brush it off, like he always did? Frisk understood sans' actions as much as they understood their own feelings. They felt like they had just ran through a crowded place without clothes on. The embarrassment overwhelmed them.

Frisk wanted to look back to see if sans was following them, to see if he would just make a funny remark, a pun, something! But the human continued to walk forward, stubborn to forget the whole dilemma and focus their thoughts on the oncoming events of the day.

Asgore was going to announce to the Underground that the barrier was broken. The king would confirm the rumors that sans had started the day before, and everything would be set right. Monsters and humans would live alongside each other, and Frisk's journey through the Underground would finally be fulfilled.

The human stared ahead, the mayor's house coming closer as they approached the edges of Crystallea. With a final pull of their thoughts, they looked back. sans was coming down the mountain at a slower pace, head hung low. Frisk thought about waiting for him, but decided against it. They thought it was better wait for the awkwardness to settle before approaching sans again. Frisk made their way to the house.

The young human greeted some of the people and merchants in the plaza before opening the door to the mayor's house. They entered the hall, and looked around to see no one there. Frisk shrugged and assumed that the group was waiting in the dining room. They wandered off to the right and only had to walk a few feet to find the dining room where Undyne's passionate voice could be heard through the brick walls.

"What the fuck, Asgore? I thought we were going to live here in the village? Roscoe said it wasn't a problem!" When Frisk entered the room, they saw the Head of the Royal Guard towering over the seated goat king, fists ready to punch his soft face in.

The king flattened his ears, and looked away, "I do not want to be a burden to the mayor, or the people. It would be better if we just-"

"NOOO! Asgore, if we want to start out right, we've gotta live _IN_ the village!" She stamped her foot down harshly, creaking the floorboards. The mayor witnessed the spectacle with a dumb smile.

"Okay, fine Undyne. We will reside amongst the humans, but-" Before Asgore could finish, the fish monster had already thrown up her arms in victory.

"Alright!" She yelled, as her eyes fell unto the incomer. "Oh, hey, Frisk! Guess what? We're going to live in the village with everyone! Isn't that cool?" Undyne grinned toothily at the human in the doorway. Frisk nodded their head happily.

The sound of a door opening and closing was heard, and Frisk looked back to see sans walking in casually. Frisk's heart did a little jump, and scooted inside the dining area to let the skeleton pass. He didn't look up at Frisk at all, and instead slyly waltzed in, smiling at Undyne.

"so, what's for breakfast?" sans looked at the mayor, ignoring the human behind him with difficulty. He felt a little awkward, but decided to quell his thoughts for another time.

Roscoe grinned joyfully, "Ho! So this is Papyrus' brother, eh? Nice to meet you, I'm Roscoe Edric! Now that we're all here… No, wait. Where's my daughter and Papyrus?" He didn't need to wait any longer, since a wailing child came bursting into the room.

Joanna's tiny arms clung to her father's leg, burying her face into the fabric of his pants. Papyrus dragged himself in, holding a finger up.

"J-JOANNA, STOP RUNNING!" The skeleton was panting heavily, and leaned against one of the chairs tiredly.

Roscoe picked his child up. "What's wrong, Joanna?" He frowned slightly, watching the tears stream down her face. "Oh, no don't cry anymore, Daddy's here." He pulled her close and hugged her tightly.

"Papyrus," the mayor addressed the tall skeleton, while bouncing the child in his arms, "what happened?"

"UNDYNE SCARED HER, AND I'VE BEEN TRYING TO CALM HER DOWN! SHE KEPT RUNNING AWAY!" Papyrus threw his arms into the air in frustration.

sans giggled to himself and walked over to his brother, patting his back. Undyne huffed and crossed her arms. "Hey, it wasn't my fault that _someone_ decided to wake me up!"

Roscoe chuckled and put Joanna down, hushing the child gently. "Oh well, no harm. My daughter's always over reacting. Anyways, Dahlia! Come out of the kitchen!" He called his wife, and she immediately came out from the kitchen door with a notebook and pencil in hand.

"Good Morning!" She chimed happily, "Looks like we have a new face! I'm Dahlia!" She briskly walked to sans to shake his hand.

"hey, i'm sans." The short skeleton casually said, though he flinched at the woman's unexpectedly strong handshake. It felt like his hand was going to fall off if she shook it any harder.

The mayor's wife politely nodded her head in response. "Nice to meet you, sans! Okay everyone, I'm going to go around and ask what you want to eat."

Dahlia went to the group and asked what they wanted to eat. Once she was finished, she retreated into the kitchen with the list to tell the chefs what everyone ordered.

The friends sat down with Roscoe at the head of the table, and Papyrus and Joanna at the opposite end. On the right side sat Toriel, Frisk, Undyne, and Alphys. On the right Asgore left a seat for Dahlia to sit by her husband, with sans seated on the far right by his brother and Joanna.

While waiting for the meal to be brought in, the mayor, king and queen discussed how the villagers and monsters would help each other out to build basic houses for the monsters on the edge of the village. Undyne and Alphys were going over plans to move in together; it looked like Alphys was having a nervous breakdown of some sorts. Joanna and Papyrus were happily conversing about how she would love to meet all of the other monsters from the Underground. The only two who were silent in the room was Frisk and sans. Frisk nervously glanced towards sans, only to see him look up at the same time. They eyes met for a spilt second before they tore their eyes away.

A few minutes later, a bell rung from behind the door and the breakfast was carried out. Delicious smells of bacon and maple syrup wafted in, making Frisk's mouth water. Different villagers were carrying the plates this time, but they were friendly nonetheless.

Frisk grabbed their fork with newfound delight, and cut up the fluffy, warm pancakes on their plate. They grabbed the warm syrup pitcher and drenched their food in it. Toriel salted her fried eggs lightly, breaking the yolk and soaking it up with toasted bread.

The friends enjoyed the delicious meal. "Does everyone like it? The villagers worked hard to prepare the meal for you." Dahlia sipped her orange juice, smiling at the group.

"oh yeah, i think we like it an _waffle_ lot." sans held a piece of waffle dripping with syrup on his fork before stuffing it into his mouth. Dahlia and Toriel almost choked on their food out of laugher. sans giggled, "you think that _yolk_ was _eggcellent_? i got a ton more just _bacon_ to come out." He winked and the ladies burst out in laughter, almost falling out of their seats. Papyrus groaned while Joanna covered her sticky mouth, accompanied by giggle fits. Even Frisk joined in the merriment.

After the meal was over and the villagers had come back to retrieve the plates, Asgore and Roscoe stood up.

The king shook Roscoe's hand. "Thank you for the meal, my friend. Now, we must return to the Underground and spread the news. I'm sure that they have noticed my absence by now."

The mayor gripped Asgore's paw tightly. "Asgore, If I may, could I go with you and your friends? I've always wondered about the top of the mountain since I was a child." Roscoe's brown eyes gleamed pleadingly, like a child's.

The Monster King grinned cheekily. "Of course! But only you, I do not know how the monsters will react upon seeing so many new humans. Many are still wrapping their heads around how it was a young hUman child who saved us all." Roscoe nodded happily in an understanding manner.

Asgore gathered the group, and started to head off towards the opening of the mountain where they first emerged. The trek up the mountain was long, and the shining sun bore down on their backs.

Toriel held her child's hand tightly. She was anxious to tell everyone the news. _'I wonder what they will do. I wonder what they will think. They will surely be surprised…'_

Alphys walked a little faster to catch up with Asgore and Roscoe, who seemed to be in a hurry to reach their destination. She balled her hands and looked up at Asgore's towering frame.

"A-Asgore, I was wanting to know if you th-thought about how you're going to tell everyone." She looked back down at the dirt nervously.

Asgore seemed to slow his steps, "Hm. I suppose I could use Mettaton's help… He is your creation, correct? He could aid us in spreading the word on the television! Do you think he would mind?"

Alphys almost tripped when she heard Mettaton's name. She had already rebuilt him in her lab… But she was unsure of whether he was going to be willing to cooperate. Ever since his newfound fame, Mettaton had almost forgotten she was the onewho built his new body.

"S-sure, Asgore… I'll ask him." The geeky scientist faltered back to Undyne. The fish monster was enjoying the hike up, but she looked down to Alphys who seemed to be in distress. Without saying a word, she picked Alphys up and onto her broad shoulders.

"Undyne! W-What are you d-doing?" Alphys hugged Undyne's throat tightly, but it didn't bother the monster at all. She kept walking normally with the group, with a giant smile plastered on her face. Alphys trembled at first, but started to relax when she looked to the right of the mountain. She could see a city in the distance. She riveted her gaze on the landscape and loosened her grip on Undyne's throat.

"It's still so beautiful…" She whispered to herself. The mass of trees leading down the mountain followed up to the city, then thinned out. The city itself contained tons of skyscrapers and building, and Alphys found that she couldn't possibly count them all.

Frisk looked over at the city as well, and a memory best forgotten almost came back to them. A shiver ran up their spine, and they forced their eyes to the path ahead. Asgore and the mayor were way ahead of the group, only about a hundred feet from the entrance to the Underground. Papyrus, Undyne and Alphys were also ahead of them by a little. Frisk increased their pace, tugging Toriel's hand to walk faster with them.

"What's wrong, my child? Anticipating to tell everyone the news?" She let go of the human's hand, and pushed their back lightly. "Go on ahead. I'll catch up with all of you later, I want to enjoy the outer world a little longer." She smiled warmly at her child, and Frisk nodded.

Frisk caught up with the group, and they realized they had forgotten about someone. They turned their head to look back, and found that only Toriel was behind them. sans was nowhere to be found. They shrugged to themselves and figured sans was in the Underground already, probably using one of his shortcuts.

Asgore and Roscoe had reached the entrance and disappeared inside of it. Undyne furrowed her brows, and gripped Alphys' knees. "Hold on! I'm going to catch up to those losers!" She reared back slightly, then lurched forward to run up the small stretch of mountain.

"UNDYNE, WAIT!" Papyrus raised his hand, then ran after her. Frisk grinned, and ran after their friends.

Toriel was left behind. She giggled to herself, and stopped to look at the city. "I want to go there one day, with you, Frisk. Show me how the humans have changed." She stayed staring out for a moment, before sighing and continuing her walk. ' _We still have a long journey ahead of us, my child.'_

Asgore and Roscoe walked past some rubble mixed in with shimmering fragments of the barrier. The mayor pointed at one of the larger pieces of barrier fragment.

"What are those, Asgore? Crystals of some sort?" Roscoe took a moment to pick a smaller fragment up. It sizzled in his hand, making him drop it immediately with a yelp in pain.

"Be careful! Those er, crystals are very dangerous. They're only found here." Asgore hurried to his friend, whose hand was blistering red in pain.

Roscoe gently touched the area where he was burned. The skin was taut and shiny, and he couldn't distinguish the touch of his fingers from the pain. Asgore worriedly looked at the mayor's palm, unsure of what to do.

"Don't worry too much Asgore! Let us keep going!" Roscoe put on a brave face and kept walking forward. Asgore followed cautiously, making sure none of the fragments were in their path so the others wouldn't step on them.

At last they reached a corridor which lead to a small room on the right. The path was paved and Asgore could relax a little. He picked up a few echoes behind him, signaling that the group was close. Asgore realized that Roscoe had kept going. He heard him shout from the next room over.

"How gorgeous! Asgore, is this your throne room?" The mayor exclaimed delightedly, swooning over the glorious golden flowers in the room. The king came in to see Roscoe kneeling down at the edge of the garden, feeling one of the soft petals on a flower. The throne room had a ray of sunlight radiating from a hole in the ceiling, creating a warm, golden glow.

The Monster King approached and knelt by Roscoe. He plucked one of the flowers and sniffed it. The smell was delicately sweet, reminding Asgore of his favorite tea. "Yes, this is the throne room and my personal flower garden." He held the flower up to the mayor, "And these Golden Flowers are my absolute favorite."

The mayor took the flower from Asgore's paw. "We have these imported from a town on the other side of this mountain! To find them growing in here though, is amazing!" He stood up and waved Asgore along. "Let's keep going? I want to see more of your home!"

Asgore followed the rushed human out of the throne room, but heard Alphys' voice right behind him. He and the mayor rose up to face the other direction.

"W-Wait, Asgore!" Alphys, who was still on Undyne's shoulders, halted the king with her hands up in the air. "Do you know where you're g-going first?"

Asgore paused to realize he didn't think anything through, and gave her a dumb smile. "I suppose not. What did you have in mind?" He asked curiously.

Undyne groaned. "You big dummy, you _would_ forget what we're doing."

"We need to go to Hotland and use M-Mettaton's show to broadcast our new freedom, sire," Alphys gently reminded Asgore. She smiled at the king's face when he remembered what the objective was.

"Oh, yes that's right!" He started to walk the other way to the corridor. Papyrus and Frisk walked into the throne room to see the group already heading out. They all continued together.

The corridor after the throne room was spilt. Asgore headed to the right, and the mayor was curious about the other direction.

"What's in the left side?"

Asgore shook his head vigorously. "There is nothing. Just a dead end." A bead of imaginary sweat seemed to slide down his face. He wanted to forget the past, but it kept flying into his face at every turn.

The mayor frowned at the king's uncharacteristic behavior, but did not speak. They continued on with the group as they went under an archway and into a beautiful grand hall with stained glass. The roof was held up by elegant, large pillars. Roscoe gasped in amazement, and carefully touched one of the towering pillars. Everyone else passed him by.

"Come on, Roscoe! We'll never get there if you keep asking about everything!" Undyne returned and grabbed the mayor forcibly by the collar of his shirt. Alphys wanted to protest, but the mayor didn't seem to mind.

They exited the hall and ended up outside, above the town, on a large bridge. A few monsters down below could be seen, but none of them bothered to look up. Asgore went straight to an elevator on the right. He pressed the down arrow, and the doors opened. He was about to step inside when he realized that not all of them might fit at once.

"Erm, How about Roscoe, Papyrus and I go in first? Then Alphys, Undyne, Frisk and…?" He paused to look around. "Where is Toriel?"

"I'm here." Toriel's voice echoed from the archway. She smiled as Frisk scurried to her to hold her hand.

"Right then. Come on, let's get in." Asgore, Roscoe and Papyrus went into the elevator. The skeleton was nearly lost between the sheer sizes of the two men, but dealt with it valiantly, i.e. he cracked a big smile. Asgore pressed a button to go down, closing the doors to the elevator. As the trio descended Papyrus tried to stretch his arms out, but only found himself squished even further.

A moment later, they arrived at the bottom level of the town. They stepped out, and the elevator immediately went back up.

"PHEW, THAT TOOK A WHILE. I FELT OUT-OF-BREATH, AND I DON'T EVEN BREATHE!" the tall skeleton said, and accompanied it by a small 'NYEH'. He was proud of his non-pun-natured joke.

"Let's keep going, the others will catch up with us, they know the way." Asgore went into the other elevator, and the other two crammed in with him. Poor Papyrus wassmashed once again.

Roscoe noticed the temperature was starting to get warmer. When the doors opened, a rush of hot air swept across his body. He stepped out in a hurry, finding little relief outside the shaft. Papyrus raised a brow curiously.

"ARE YOU OKAY?" The skeleton looked at the mayor leaning on one of the blue walls.

Roscoe nodded his head. "Just fine. It's awfully warm in here, however. What is this place?" He looked along the bottom of the walls, finding intertwining pink wires running along them. A soft hum could be heard all around them.

The goat king grinned. "This is the Core. It's where we harvest our power for the whole Underground. At the moment, Alphys is the one in charge of running maintenance on it." His tone was full of pride.

The mayor looked around the small corridor, nodding his head at the intriguing architecture. "This is a very unique building. Who designed this place?"

The monster king briefly stopped and frowned. "…Strange. I do not remember."

Asgore continued on with the friends, passing a dark, empty chamber and emerging on the other side where another elevator awaited. Another descent finally brought them to the MTT resort in Hotland.

The king barred the mayor from exiting. The action made Papyrus groan loudly. He was looking forward to escaping the tiny cube.

Asgore whispered to Roscoe. "You will be seeing monsters here. They will be just as intrigued of you as you will be of them. Please don't be frightened." He dropped his arm and walked towards the three monsters waiting for the elevator.

A green, dragon-like monster stepped forward first. "Look! Asgore fixed the elevator!" He waited for the king to exit. When he saw the human, his eyes nearly popped out of his skull.

"Wh-What? Another human!" The dragon stared at the mayor following Asgore out. Papyrus huffed angrily.

"YES, ANOTHER HUMAN. DON'T YOU HAVE SOMEWHERE TO BE?" Papyrus crossed his arms and strutted out. The dragon flinched and ran over to the elevator that was about to close. He barely got his arm to make the doors swing back open. The other two monsters went in, still staring at Roscoe as the doors closed.

Roscoe blinked. He couldn't say he didn't expect the monsters to react. Asgore chuckled.

"Alright then, let's wait here for the others. Meanwhile, would you like to look around a little, Roscoe? I'm sure this is all new and exciting for you." The king warmly smiled at the gawking human. Roscoe had noticed a little, star shaped monster walking to the trio. She was barely a foot tall, and polygonal.

"Hello, Welcome to MTT Resort: Hotland's biggest apartment-building turned hotel! How can we help you today?" The little monster smiled at Roscoe, curious about the human. Asgore spoke for the human instead.

"Hello, Tiffany! How are you this morning?" The king knelt down to look at the monster. She bowed in return.

"Doing just fine, sire. Have you heard the rumors lately?" Tiffany tilted her head in question.

Asgore frowned, "What rumors?"

"People are saying that the barrier's been shattered. Is it true? I heard that someone in Snowdin started it."

The goat widened his eyes, hoping Roscoe didn't respond to the subject of the barrier. He leaned in to whisper to Tiffany. " _Don't mention the barrier around this human. The rumors, however, are true."_ He leaned away, and noticed the monster's face. Her polygonal eyes opened in amazement.

"It 's true…? _IT'S TRUE?!_ " Tiffany started to shake, and she ran over to the receptionist. She sucked in air, and screamed at the hand monster, "I FUCKING QUIT. SCREW THIS JOB, I HATE WORKING HERE!" Tiffany started to laugh madly, "WE'RE FREE, FREE I TELL YOU!" She ran out of the glass doors of the resort, like a child high on sugar.

The receptionist's fingers were spread out in surprise. She rose from her stool on the other side to lean over the desk to face Asgore. The king was still knelt down, expression drawn in surprise. When he saw the hand monster, he rose his hands in defense.

"I-I'm sorry, Vanessa! I had no clue she was going to hit the fan. I'm sure you'll find another Greeter…"

Vanessa signed with her other hands. The message that came across to Asgore was, "it's fine. She was starting to crack anyways. What's this about freedom?"

Asgore rose up and walked to the desk, leaving Roscoe to look around the resort with Papyrus. The goat monster signed back, "the barrier is broken, and I will be making an announcement shortly with Mettaton."

Vanessa clapped, her main hand showing a thumbs up. "That's wonderful! Mettaton should be in the studio right now, too! What great timing," She signed andbowed politely as she walked back into the office behind the desk.

Asgore heard the doors of the elevator open up, and out came the rest of his friends. Alphys scampered out to the king.

"I k-keep trying to call Mettaton, but h-he won't answer!" She looked for the receptionist. "Where's Vanessa?" She pointed to the empty stool.

The king pointed to one of the doors in the office. "I believe she went back to get him, she told me he was in the studio."

Alphys clutched her phone nervously. She hoped that Mettaton wouldn't refuse.

The receptionist came out followed by Mettaton in his EX form. He placed a hand on his cheek tenderly.

"OH _MY._ If it isn't the fuzzy king and my darling friend. What do I have the pleasure of seeing you for?" He smiled alluringly.

Papyrus perked up as soon as he head Mettaton's voice. The skeleton made a beeline for the desk and shoved himself over it to stand right in front of the robot.

"OH. MY. GOD. METTATON! I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN!" Papyrus smiled wildly. Mettaton observed the skeleton for a bit before placing his hands on his hips and grinning.

"Why thank you so much. I always _love_ to receive feedback from my fans. What's your name, if I may?"

The skeleton thrust his chest out and stuck his face up. "I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! I HOPE MY CHARMS WON'T OUTSHINE YOURS."

The robot giggled. "I don't know, someone as fabulously _fantastic_ as you could definitely win at mine." Mettaton sashayed closer to the skeleton, trying to intimidate him. "But then again, maybe I'll be the one to charm you." He stepped back to observe Papyrus. The skeleton had frozen, arms dead at his sides. The robot touch a metallic finger to the Papyrus' skull. "You okay there?"

 _Somewhere in Snowdin_

sans felt a chill run up his spine as he sat on the couch, reading a quantum physics book. He narrowed his eyes. "feels like someone's hitting on my brother..." The short skeleton gripped the edges of the book. "…no way, the bone zone is _CLOSED_." He took a moment to think. "nah, maybe it's something else." sans shrugged and continued to read his book.

…It had better be, or someone was going to have a bad time.

 _Back at MTT Resort_

Papyrus shied away, touching the tips of his gloves together. "ERM, YES! DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME!"

The clearing of a throat caught the duo's attention. Alphys was tapping her claws on the reception desk, glaring at Mettaton. The robot swayed his hips and leaned over the counter on his arms. Papyrus scurried over the desk to run over to where Frisk and the others were.

"Yes, _Alphys?_ I can tell you didn't come here for a social visit. So why are you here?" He smiled nicely.

The dinosaur sighed, collecting her confidence. "Mettaton, we need your help. Can we use your show to broadcast the breaking of the barrier?"

The robot's eyes turned to slits. "The barrier? You mean those _silly_ rumors are true? No, it can't be! You shouldn't lie like that, Alphys, it's rude." He shook a cartoony finger at her.

The dinosaurs threw her head back in annoyance. "No, I'm not lying, M-Mettaton. The barrier was broken and we've already been to the Overworld." She pointed to the right, where Roscoe was speaking with Toriel. "That human over there is the m-mayor of a town we just went to."

Mettaton looked over to where Alphys pointed. He nodded his head in acknowledgement when he saw the mayor. "Fine, let's say I believe your story; Frisk came down here somehow, so why not him? But why should I have to let you use my show? Can't Asgore call a conference or something?" He stood straight and crossed his arms, mouth turned into a frown.

The king shook his head, "I could, but I'm afraid that it would simply take too long." The goat's face was scrunched pleadingly. He hoped Mettaton would accept the request.

The robot cocked his head to the left. "Well… I suppose I could let you use it as long as I'm still the star. Imagine the _ratings_!" He splayed out his arms. "I can see it now! 'Freedom With a Fabulous Robot!' _Oh, yes!_ I love it, I love it!" Mettaton's eyes sparkled brightly. "Asgore!" He pointed at the king. "Do you have anything planned yet? We need to do this now, NOW!" He clapped his hands and turned to Vanessa.

"Venny, do please get the camera crew ready! Interrupt any of my re-runs! Do it with style, though, please?" Mettaton clapped his hands again. "Come on, you fuzzy oaf! We don't have all _DAY_!" The robot retreated to one of the office doors. The label on it said, "Mettaton", with a font so cursive and incomprehensible, it was as if a doctor designed it.

The receptionist went to a door on the left and emerged out of the MTT Burger entrance. She held the door open with her large hand, and signed to Asgore. "Step this way please. Bring your friends, if you would like."

The king went to the door, and called out to the mayor. "Roscoe, could you come over here, please?"

The mayor, who was busy chatting with a slime janitor, ceased his conversation to look at Asgore. "What is it, my friend? Excuse me, please." He walked towards the double doors.

"Would you be so kind, as to join me? I think it would be nice to have you on the show with me." The king's question surprised Roscoe. The human looked down for a moment, before agreeing enthusiastically.

"Of course! Anything for you, Asgore." The human walked into the burger joint where Vanessa was patiently waiting for the two. She bowed slightly to the mayor, then guided them to the office.

They walked past a series of doors, some with ridiculous labels like, " _Mettaton's power room_ ," or " _Mettaton's super-secret hideout_." Roscoe stifled a laugh.

They stopped at another set of double doors, and the receptionist opened one of them for the two men. Asgore and Roscoe stepped in to see a whole set ready to record. Cameras littered the edges in front of a snazzy array of couches and recliners with the background of a typical home.

Mettaton was being shined by an assistant for the casting, and pushed them away when he saw the duo.

"Marvelous, you're here! Okay, come on now, don't be shy! We start rolling in a few minutes!" The robot strut over to Asgore and waited while staff members stood in front of the cameras and lights. Out of nowhere, Vanessa attached microphones to Mettaton, Asgore and Roscoe. The human jumped at the touch.

Another monster, who eerily resembled a backwards merman, clapped his fins at the staff. "Okay people, we're on in thirty seconds! Where's my host? Where's the damn host?!" His fish eyes looked around independently, like a chameleon. An anthropomorphic female Gryftrot ran out with a microphone.

"H-Here I am, sir!" She saluted him right away. The trees on her antlers shook nervously. The reverse merman grunted at her.

"Cyndi, about time! Center stage, and don't screw this up!" He left Cyndi alone on the stage.

A crewmember started a countdown. "We go on in, five, four, three, two, one, _On Air_!"

The Gryftrot put on a serious face, and lost her previous nervousness, putting on a brave façade. "Hello ladies and gentle monsters. I'm your lovely host, Cyndi here. We have a mega _IMPORTANT_ announcement here on the MTT show! So please, tell all of your family and loved ones to tune in, because we need all of you fabulous people to hear this! If you're still not convinced, here's the one, the only, METTATON, and his sexy legs! OOOhhh!"

Cyndi smiled and backed off of the stage to let the robot lead. Mettaton bowed and blew kisses towards the camera while a cheering track played. The ratings, which showed on a wall outside of the set, soared when he was on stage.

"Hello, my lovelies! I hope you're all doing _as fabulously_ as I am!" He flipped his hair flamboyantly. The ratings escalated. "OH YES. As my darling assistant told you, we have a major announcement here on the MTT show, 'Freedom With a Fabulous Robot!' It's going to be quite a treat for you all. I'm sure some of you remember the human from my previous shows, like 'Cooking With a Killer Robot'. This time, I have yet another human who will be joining me today. _But wait, there's MORE!_ I also have the most powerful monster in the Underground!" He posed dramatically, hand over his chest daintily. "That's right! I have King Asgore here with me today! Will you two _please_ join me?"

He exotically turned on his heel to sit on one of the red recliners, patting the arm of the sofa right by him. The two men were pushed by staff members onto the set. They understood the gist of things, and sat on the sofa by Mettaton. The ratings on the wall rocketed when the mayor was in view. A staff member gave a thumbs up to the robot off-screen to show that ratings were good. Mettaton nodded subtly.

"Give a great welcome to these two strong men! Oh my, don't break the sofa! Now please, tell all of us who are tuned in, what exactly is the big hubbub? We've been hearing some dastardly rumors about the barrier being shattered, but are they _true?_ " He crossed his legs elegantly, gazing at Asgore.

The goat almost stopped Mettaton from saying the word'Barrier'. Now Roscoe would have to know the truth. _'I suppose it's better than lying. I'm sure he'll understand, right?'_

He cleared his throat, "Ahem, people of the Underground. These rumors are indeed, true. The barrier has been shattered, and we are all now free. The human beside me is the mayor of a village where we will be settling. Please, introduce yourself." The king anxiously eyed the mayor's reaction.

Roscoe was puzzled. Barrier? What barrier? The king had said Frisk led them out of the caves. He decided not to say anything about it, and ask Asgore later. For now, he would go along with whatever they said.

"Hello, monsters of the Underground. My name is Roscoe Edric, and I am the mayor of the village of Crystallea." Roscoe beamed.

Asgore sighed in relief. Roscoe was going along with it. That was good.

Mettaton clapped. "Bravo! Everyone, give a round of applause for the kind human! Asgore, Roscoe, please give us all the juicy details!"

The king nodded. "Well, the mayor has generously given us permission to settle in the village of Crystallea for a fresh start. The people are extremely nice, and most will help us build some homes. Roscoe, would you like to add anything?"

The human nodded firmly. "Yes, I would. Monsters of the Underground, I personally invite you to settle with us humans. As I understand, you have been waiting for many years to ascend to the surface world. This is your chance to leave an imprint on the world, and change it for the better. I ask that we make a joyous union where we can all live in peace, no matter what our race is, just like the nation above us has. Make your mark on the world, leave no stone unturned. This is your moment in history." Roscoe ended the speech, not realizing he had actually stood up in the midst of it.

During the speech, the ratings had risen so high, that the monitor could hardly keep up with the numbers. It started to overheat and sizzle. Mettaton was highly pleased when a staff member gave him two thumbs up.

The robot rose, "Well then, my little monsters, there you have it! We're all free! Asgore, some final words, please: What do we need to do to prepare for the upcoming migration?"

The king's face glowed with admiration for the mayor's speech. He stood up beside the human. "Just wait for tomorrow. We will get everything ready for the oncoming days. All the monsters that wish to reside above, please start to pack. In a few days' time, I will hold a conference in the city of New Home to announce when we will head to the Overworld. As I have said before, some of the carpenters in Crystallea will help us with some basic homes. On the day of the conference I will have some forms for everyone to fill out so we can gather everything in an orderly fashion. Thank you, monsters of the Underground. It has truly been a blessing to see this day with all of you, my people."

With Asgore's final words, the reverse merman made a cutting motion across his neck with his fin. Mettaton acknowledged it.

"Thank you so much, darlings! I'm afraid that's all we have time for today. Ladies and Gentlemen watching at home, thank you so much for tuning in to the MTT show. Goodbye lovelies!" The robot ended with a wink at the camera, and then the feed was cut.

The reverse merman clapped his fins again. "Alright people, that was a hit! Now clean up the set, we got another recording in ten minutes!"

Mettaton took Roscoe and Asgore to the entrance of the studio. The group of friends were all gathered together there.

Toriel clapped her hands. "Well done, you two! Roscoe that was a magnificent speech. Truly, it made me feel as if I was a very important individual."

Frisk went over to give the furry king a hug. Asgore patted Frisk's brown hair. "This all happened, thanks to you, Frisk."

Undyne slapped the mayor in the back. "Way to go, Roscoe! Everyone will like you better than Frisk if you keep it up!"

The mayor's back ended up popping several times in conjunction with Undyne's slap. He stood up straight and rubbed the area. "I believe you just fixed my aching back! Thank you."

The fish monster laughed and hugged Alphys close to her. "See, Alphys? Not everyone thinks my hits are painful!" Her statement made Papyrus cringe a little.

The yellow dinosaur nervously grinned. "I-I guess so."

Mettaton loved the display. "Oh, what kinship! Such a lovely little group. Okay, now out with you, I have another show to produce!" He shooed them away with flailing hands, following them out the door. The robot noticed Papyrus had exited immediately.

"Oh darling _Papyrus_ , why are you in such a hurry? I thought you were my biggest fan, hm?" The robot sang.

Papyrus froze with his spine straight up, and then turned around lightning fast. "I AM! I JUST THOUGHT I SHOULD RECORD YOUR SHOW AT HOME INSTEAD OF BOTHERING YOU HERE."

Mettaton giggled lightly. "You may stay. Besides, you may not make it back in time to record it, unless you live in the city."

The skeleton knew Mettaton was right. He also knew this was his only chance to see his favorite television star, live! Well, besides the show he just watched a few moments ago. That didn't count.

Papyrus balled his gloved hands into fists. "YOU MEAN IT? CAN I REALLY STAY?"

"Of course you can, darling."

The skeleton jumped for joy. "WOWIE, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! OH, FRISK, CAN YOU TELL MY BROTHER I'M GOING TO BE STAYING HERE FOR A WHILE? I'M SURE HE'LL BE WORRIED ABOUT ME."

The human in question agreed with a shake of their head. Mettaton instantly grabbed Papyrus by his scarf and dragged him into the studio, slamming the doors.

Frisk stared in shock at the motion. ' _Weird.'_

The others had gone ahead without Frisk, leaving the human to scamper after their friends. Once Frisk caught up to them, the group was already exiting the resort.

Outside of the resort the group was starting to split off. Toriel took Frisk's hand and led them to the wall nearby.

"My child, it seems that we will all be heading our separate ways. Would you like to accompany me back to the ruins, or go with one of the others? I understand if you would like to stay with someone else." She spoke calmly, reassuring the human that she wouldn't be hurt if they decided to go.

For Frisk, the choice was immediately obvious. This was the second time Toriel had asked them if they wanted to leave. If they had wanted to leave in the first place, Frisk wouldn't be in the Underground.

The human took Toriel's hand and started to head to the ruins. The goat giggled to herself as she let herself be guided. As the couple left, Toriel waved her hand at the group in goodbye. Only Asgore and Undyne waved back.

As Frisk and Toriel exited the area of the MTT Resort, the human took their phone out and checked the time. It was already five in the evening. Where had the time gone? It flew by in an instant, and Frisk felt like only a few minutes had gone by, when really the whole day was almost at an end.

The two descended the stairs, passing the Nice Cream Man and Guards, and heading to the right to take the L1 elevator. Frisk felt sick to their stomach; they hated elevators now.

Toriel pushed a button to arrive on the floor closest to the River Person and Alphys' lab. She stepped out first and started to walk a little ahead of Frisk, as if leading the way. The human didn't mind, and followed her with a happy smile. They ended up arriving at the stream with the River Person. As usual, the boat person was cryptic with their greeting.

"Tra la la, where to this time?" The cloaked figure stood motionless on the boat. They seemed to be really stiff today.

Toriel stepped onto the boat, with the human following her lead. "Snowdin," she soothingly replied. The boat started to lurch forward with tremendous speed. The river person stood their ground, but then started to turn around slowly. Their dark hood made it impossible to distinguish any kind of facial features, but Frisk was sure they saw a glint of red eyes. The river person was now facing Toriel and Frisk, making them feel a little uneasy.

Toriel was the first to respond. "What is it? Is something wrong?" She took a step back. The river person advanced slowly on the tiny deck of the boat. Frisk protectively stepped in front of Toriel to shield her. The boat person bent down at their back at an almost ninety degree angle, cloak billowing in the breeze. Frisk didn't flinch, and stared into the void of where the river person's face would be. The human saw nothing.

Frisk felt a puff of air come from the hood. They tensed up, expecting some kind of fight to commence. The moment lasted for a few seconds before the river person spoke quietly.

"Tra. La. La… Beware of the man who speaks in hands…" The river person hissed out the last word before jolting back around, facing the wind. Frisk widened their eyes as a recollection of a memory came back to them. A menacing laugh resounded in their mind, and they felt seasick. Frisk grasped their stomach to quell the nausea. Toriel placed a hand on their shoulder gently, "Oh my, Frisk, are you alright?" Frisk nodded in response, patting her hand lightly. They needed to get off of the boat, away from the water.

Toriel glared at the river person's back. "What was the purpose of doing that? What did you do to Frisk?!" The boat person responded with silence, and came up to the bank of Snowdin.

"Tra la la, come again sometime." The boat person finally spoke, breaking the awkward quietness. Toriel quickly stepped off the boat, tugging Frisk along with her. She glowered at the river person as they sped off in their boat.

"Hmph, what nerve! I sure hope they never do that again or I will have words-!" Toriel let go of Frisk, stomping away in anger.

The human turned around to follow. The cold snow crunched delightfully under their feet. They thought about the confrontation with the river person. What did the phrase even mean? _'Beware of the man who speaks in hands…'_ Frisk went over the phrase again. A feeling of doom hung over them the more they thought about it, and the laugh replayed in their head every time. It sounded so familiar, as if they had heard it somewhere recently. Their mind went to the night they spent with sans…

"Oh right, Papyrus." Frisk remembered they needed to tell sans that Papyrus would be home late. A blush creeped onto their face, but Frisk shook their head, and ran after Toriel.

The goat was already passing Grillby's when she heard Frisk's footsteps. She waited for the human to catch up, and she bowed her head apologetically, "Sorry, my child. I did not mean to leave you alone."

Frisk smiled. "Its fine. I needed to tell sans that Papyrus would be late today. I think sans might be at home, so I'll be over there for a while."

Toriel glanced over to the skeleton brother's cabin. Sure enough, a light was on in one of the windows. She gestured at Frisk to go ahead, "That will be okay, my child. In the meantime, I will make us some dinner and pie. Take your time."

Frisk hugged his goat mother before walking off towards sans' house. Dogamy and Dogaressa were stationed outside the "librarby," and wagged their tails as the human walked by. Frisk waved to them, then came in front of sans' home.

Frisk decided to knock a few times instead of going in directly. The doorknob turned slowly, and the door opened a crack. A bright pupil shone throw the crack, and dilated when it saw Frisk. The door swung open all the way to reveal sans. Frisk tried to crack a smile, and ended up giving the skeleton a clumsy grin. sans' eternal grin widened in return.

"hey, what's been going on? i saw asgore and that mayor guy on tv. they did pretty great." The skeleton swooshed his head to eye the area behind Frisk, "where's pap?"

Frisk pointed towards the outskirts of town. "That's what I came here to tell you. Your brother is with Mettaton, and he told me to tell you that he's staying there for a while."

sans' face expressed immediate worry. "oh boy, that's probably why i got that weird feeling earlier…" He trailed off, looking down to the side. His gaze returned back to Frisk. "welp, nothing to do about it now but wait. wanna come in? i'm fixing to watch a movie."

Frisk thought about the offer for a moment. The awkwardness from earlier was gone, and Toriel said to take their time. What's the worst that could happen?

"Sure, what movie is it?" Frisk replied. The skeleton stepped aside to let the human enter the home, shutting the door behind them. Frisk hopped onto the green couch, waiting for the skeleton. sans went over to the television, and rummaged through the drawer below it. He pulled out an old VHS tape, then a newer DVD case, then presented them to Frisk. The VHS and the DVD were the same title, "The Beauty and The Beast." The human grabbed the VHS and studied it. Frisk remembered having a VHS player when they were younger, and the nostalgia brought a warm smile to their face. They gave it back to sans, nodding their head.

"okay then, old school it is. i remember finding this in the trash pile in waterfall, and watching this as a kid when pap was barely learning how to walk. good times." sans fondly reminisced about his younger brother for a bit before snapping his fingers, "oh, sorry. lost myself there for a second." He looked in the drawer again and took out a large VHS player, placing it on the TV stand. After hooking it up, he inserted the cartridge into the player. The blue screen displayed the word, "PLAY" for a second before flashing to some old movie previews. sans plopped down beside Frisk on the sofa, leaning back into the soft cushions. He reached over the arm of the sofa to retrieve a remote, and skipped all of the trailers.

Frisk's eyes were glued to the screen once the prologue started. The gorgeous music that played had always caught their attention, and the story was so captivating. sans looked over to see the human's face and chuckled softly. Old movies never lost their rustic charm. The pair watched the scenes play out as Belle was constantly misunderstood, then locked up in the castle. Then Frisk's favorite song, "Be Our Guest," started to show on the screen. The human smiled to see the array of dishes dance about the table. It reminded them of some of the Underground's more eccentric monsters.

Then it cut out. The movie stopped, and all fell silent. Frisk saw their own confused face staring back at them through the TV's reflective black screen.

sans cocked his head, getting off of the couch to inspect the TV. White noise glitched onto the screen, then a blurry film started to play. The voice of a small child was heard from the television, followed by a small skeleton with a large red scarf.

"…what…" came sans breathless voice.

" _hey pap, look here! that's it!"_ The child's voice called to the small baby onscreen. sans took a step back from the television, and held a hand to his lower jaw.

"…this is an old home movie from back when me and pap were… with our parents…" The short skeleton stared at the television screen. The old movie panned to the left, where a female skeleton looked like she was grinning. sans fell onto the ground, mouth agape.

"m-mom…"

Frisk stared at the TV. They wouldn't be home for a while.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Edited Lovingly by Miss Sleep.


	5. Close Enemies

**A/N:** Edited and sassy! Enjoy!

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

The short skeleton was motionless on the carpet floor, staring up at the clip playing onscreen. Without much thought, sans started a soliloquy, regardless if the human was listening or not.

"i remember when mom had bought that old JVC VHS Camcorder from Gerson… she would always go out and buy more cassettes because i would always use it. on this particular tape…" sans trailed off, eyes closed as he immersed himself on fondly-remembered memories. "i mistook it for a blank one. that day was so fun…"

 _199X, Home of the Young Skeleton Brothers_

A tall, female skeleton was sitting on a burgundy sofa, watching her oldest son playing with the camcorder. Her youngest son was barely learning how to walk, and the oldest wanted to capture all the moments of when he stood up.

"hey pap, look here! that's it!" A young sans perched a large camcorder on his shoulder, facing the lens towards his baby brother, Papyrus. The older child tried to get Papyrus to stand up and walk for the camera.

The baby on the rug hugged the tails of his large, red scarf. Tears formed on his tiny eye sockets, not understanding what his big brother was trying to do. sans moved the lens over to his mother, pouting.

She smiled and turned her head, smoothing her bright red dress and fixing her brown-colored wig in response to the camera being on her. "Yes, Dear?"

"he isn't doing anything, mom!" sans stamped the ground with his foot in a tantrum. The sudden noise made his younger brother burst into loud wails.

The mother rose from her seat to pick up her baby son off the ground. She held Papyrus tightly in her arms, whispering soothingly, "Oh, He Didn't Mean It, No He Didn't…" She nuzzled his large forehead and adjusted Papyrus' red scarf. The baby stopped crying and sniffed a little bit before staring at his mother.

She turned back to face the camera, giving a small smile to its owner. "sans, If Papyrus Doesn't Want To Stand Up, You Can't Make Him. He's Barely A Year Old. Why Don't You Go To Mr. Stovesky's House And See If Grillby Wants To Come Over? You Two Can Make A Film Together."

sans pouted a little more. "but, mooom, i wanna make sure that i don't miss it when pap walks! what if he does it when i'm gone?"

His mother set Papyrus down on the sofa gently. The baby reached arms out to be picked up again, uttering one of the few words he knew, "MAMA, UP! UP!" She gave him a wide smile, and sat down by her son, picking him up into her lap.

"Honey, I'll Make Sure To Give You A Shout If He Does. Now Go Along, And Make Sure To Turn Off The Camera So It Doesn't Run Out Of Film!" She bounced Papyrus in her lap, making the baby giggle.

sans clicked a button on the side of the camcorder. He kicked the ground lightly, a slight pout still present on his face, "okay, i guess." The young skeleton sulkily walked to the door and grabbed the handle to open it. Before he could turn the it, the handle turned by itself and pushed him out of the way. sans shielded the camera with his tiny frame.

"Gabriola, I'm home!" A short skeleton dressed in a white lab coat came inside the home, not noticing his son dangling off the door handle. He went to his wife on the sofa and bent down to look at his son, Papyrus. "Heya kid, have ya been good to mommy?" He touched his teeth to his son's forehead in a kiss. A tooth was missing from his smile.

Gabriola lightly bumped her forehead with her husband. "Hello, Tempus, How Was Work?" She asked her spouse, forgetting that her son was currently squished between the door and the wall.

Tempus shrugged. "Eh, it was okay. Where's my other son? I've got a surprise for 'im!" He was holding a black attaché case. He put it on the sofa beside his wife and opened it to reveal some documents inside.

Sitting atop the papers were two books. One was labeled, ' _Comedy in Film_ ', the other was labeled, ' _MADD SCIENCE: A Junior's Guide to the World of Chemistry!_ '. Tempus took the two books out and gave them to his wife. They were a little worn, and water damage showed on the edges of the pages.

Gabriola opened the cover of the Comedy book. The script was intact and legible. She read over a few lines.

"Did You Find This At The Waterfall Garbage Dump? It's In Pretty Good Condition Still! But Why The Chemistry Book? Are You Hoping sans Would Be Interested In Medicine Like You?" The female skeleton looked over the other book, examining the contents. Papyrus cooed and reached for the pages, but his mother moved the book slightly out of reach.

Tempus removed his white coat, revealing a white collared shirt underneath. He threw the coat over the arm of the couch, but it ended up sliding off. He didn't bother to pick it up. "Yep, I got 'em over there. sans asked for a science book a while ago, so I thought the dump might have it. Sure enough, it was there! I don't know what the kid wants it for, but maybe you're right! He might wanna be like his old man!"

The father felt a tug on his black pants. He looked down to see his oldest son with a happy expression, "hi dad! you got me something? what is it?" The camcorder was still delicately balanced on his tiny shoulder. Tempus took the camcorder from his son to put it on the couch. He picked up the two books and presented them to sans.

"Look, son! I got you that science book you wanted, and with a bonus! This book will make your movies a little funnier!" Tempus' flat face lit up when his son took the two book with an exited expression.

The little skeleton's cyan eyes grew wide when he read the covers. He threw the books down and hugged his father, who was only a few feet taller than him, "thanks dad!" Tempus squeezed his son, lifting his tiny body off the ground.

Once sans was back on the ground, he grabbed the comedy and science book and snatched up the camcorder on the sofa. "imma go get grillbz! we're gonna make a funny movie with a crazy scientist!" The young skeleton yelled as he bolted out of the door.

Tempus put his hands in his pant pockets. "What a great kid."

The male skeleton turned to face his wife and child, reaching out to hold Papyrus. He held the baby in his arms, observing the red fleece onesie he had on. "You're a great kid too, huh Pap? Yeah you are!" He sat beside Gabriola, facing the old television. An old movie, Snow White if he remembered correctly, was playing on a VHS player.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Young sans went across the street from his house. They lived in the urban portion of the Underground, so everyone was always close by, usually within walking distance.

The child skeleton went to knock on the door of Grillby's house. The smell of delicious food wafted forth when the door opened. A blue fire elemental being stood in the doorway, and had to look down in order to see the child in front of him.

Without saying a word, he stepped aside and pointed inside. sans scurried inside with a small "thanks," and walked up the cement stairs in the home. He arrived in a small hallway that led to three doors and took the first one on the right.

A young Grillby was on the hard ground, forming shapes with sand. The particles melted a little, and cooled off to a make-shift glass. The fire elemental looked up to see his friend come in and sit right by him.

In fact, sans had sat a tad _too_ close, as flames singed the fibers on the skeleton's blue shirt. sans jumped back when he noticed the small trail of smoke coming from his top. "ah! grillbz, turn down your flame!"

Grillby shrugged and lowered his body temperature. "Sorry, I was making some stuff. Gotta melt the sand down, you know? Wanna see?"

The fire child held up a rough rendition of a kitchen knife. The handle was made with dark colored glass, and the blade was clear. Even though the knife itself looked bumpy and crooked, the edge was sharp, and shone brightly. "Dad always makes his own kitchen tools out of metal. I wanted to make some outta glass to see if they work better! …But my knife looks bad, doesn't it?"

sans observed the tool cautiously. "does he let you make stuff like that all the time? what if it breaks?" He didn't take the blade from Grillby, fearing he might get cut on the skewed edge.

Grillby nodded. "Well, yeah. I can't get cut." He passed the knife right through his arm, parting the fire of his body. It came back together like nothing had happened. "Let's go take this to my dad! He's making his burgers tonight, and that means he's gonna chop lettuce and tomatoes! He can use the knife I made!" Grillby got up and exited the room with sans following behind him. They descended the stairs and passed the living room area.

The kitchen smelled like cooked beef and grease. The smell of seasonings entered sans' nose, instantly making him hungry. Grillby's father, Kaftós Foúrnos Stovesky, was a cook in a restaurant at downtown New Home. At the moment he was washing some tomatoes under a slow running water. He was wearing thick, rubber gloves up to his arms, and a white canvas apron.

Grillby placed the glass knife on the counter next to his father. "Hey dad, I made this for you!" The young fire elemental looked up at his father. Kaftós set the tomatoes aside and took off the rubber gloves. He carefully lifted the glass blade close to his face. He grunted to himself and took out a bamboo cutting board. It was old, washed out from being used so many times. The center of the wood was sunk in.

Grillby elbowed sans. "He's gonna use it!" The young fire child watched with glee as his father grabbed one of the tomatoes and took the knife in one hand. The tool wasn't too thick or too thin, just the perfect width. Kaftós knew his child had worked hard on the blade. With a careful motion, he sliced the vegetable down the middle. It was a clean cut, but not straight. The father rose the blade to his eyes again.

"Cuts good, you need to make it straighter." He opened a drawer and pulled out another kitchen knife. It had the letters "KFS" engraved on the blade. Kaftós gave the tool to his child. Grillby took it carefully. "That's a guide. Make one like that." The father returned back to washing whatever tomatoes were left.

Grillby simply nodded and went out of the kitchen and into the living area. The fire child stared at the knife that his father gave him. sans looked at it, then at Grillby's face. The fire elemental pointed up, and his skeleton friend almost jumped for joy.

"alright, I love going on the roof!"

The pair ascended the stairs, and took one of the doors in hall. Another set of stairs led them to a hatch in the ceiling. Grillby opened it to let them out onto the roof of the home. sans carefully set aside his camcorder and books, and walked to the edge of the building. He looked down and saw his own house. The pale color of the paint stood out amongst the other grey buildings around it. The neighborhood wasn't the best, crime had always surfaced here and there. sans' mother always told him it was because of mass claustrophobia, but the skeleton had always thought otherwise. Still, it was home, and at least he had a friend next door.

Grillby was standing next to sans, looking down at the house below. The fire elemental poked his friend. "Hey, what's those books for? Are we gonna make a movie?"

sans still kept his gaze on his home. "yeah, dad got 'em for me." He turned to his friend with a widened smile. "you wanna make a movie about a mad scientist? i've got a book on funny stuff and chemistry!"

Grillby nodded, holding up the knife he still had in his hand. "Sure! I can be the assistant, and you'll be the crazy guy!" He carefully handed sans the knife. The skeleton delicately held the tool, shaking his head, "nah, we don't need this… imma cut myself with it like that."

The skeleton put the knife down carefully on the rooftop. He went over to the book of comedy and opened it up, motioning for Grillby to take a look. The two read a few tips on visual puns in movies.

They played the rest of the afternoon, making a film about a crazy scientist who blew up the world.

A few hours later, Kaftós opened the hatch to the roof. He waved sans over. "Your Mom's here. Grillby, come inside too."

sans picked up his equipment, and climbed down the stairs with his friend. His tall mother was waiting for him at the front door.

"Come On Dear, It's Dinnertime!" She helped sans with his books as they left the home. sans waved back at his friend, "see ya tomorrow, grillbz!" The fire child waved back silently.

Gabriola opened the door to let her son go in first. The smell of delicious tomato sauce filled the home. sans ran over to his little brother on the on the rug. Papyrus was playing with some wooden blocks, and the older skeleton turned the camcorder on right away. The film was rolling, but suddenly stopped with a click. A red light indicated that the film was already done.

"aw, mom! i finished another one again!" He clicked the cassette holder and took out the VHS. sans went into the kitchen where his mother was boiling pasta. She knelt down to his level, and sans handed the cassette to her. She examined it carefully. "I'm Sorry Dear, I'll Get You Some More. Now Go Put Away Your Camera, Dinner's Almost Ready!"

Her son did as he was told, heading to his room and carefully placing the camcorder on his bed. The room was a mess, with clothes thrown about the floor, and a few precariously stacked pillars of video tapes. sans smiled to himself as he thought of dinner. He loved his mother's spaghetti.

When the child came out of his room and into the kitchen, his mother was already putting Papyrus in a high chair. His father sat at the head of the small table, reading over some documents.

"Honey, I don't know why corporate makes me mix up these solutions! If I combine the chemicals on this page, I'll end up with a dead monster! This can't be the right recipe for the medicine…" Tempus pondered the list on the page.

"Put Down The Papers, Dinner Is Ready!" Gabriola served plates of spaghetti to her family. The noodles were cooked perfectly to al dente, and the sauce was her own recipe. The onions and garlic in the sauce were complemented perfectly with hints of basil and oregano. It was deliciously tangy, and the chunks of tomatoes added a perfect balance of sweetness.

sans dug into his food messily. His _mother's spaghetti was the best…"_

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

 _Current Day_

Frisk was listening to sans recite his memories of the past. They were still sitting on the couch, and sans was still on the floor, staring up at the TV with a blue screen that contained the word. "STOP." He spoke while the film played out some of the events in his memories, including the part where he and Grillby were filming a short movie.

The skeleton got up from the floor, and clicked the rewind button on the VHS player. The film blurred backwards, and he clicked pause when his mother was on the screen. "ya know… i made a wish yesterday. i guess in a way, it came true. wanna know what i wished for?"

Frisk stared silently at the skeleton's back. sans glued his eyes to the image of his mother on the screen. "i wished i could see her… one last time." His pupils bore into the television screen, unwavering.

The human's curiosity piqued. "What happened?" They asked quietly, hoping it wasn't too personal. The skeleton turned around to face the human with downcast eyes. He slowly looked up to see Frisk's face.

"they were murdered right in my face…"

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

 _200X, Home of the Young Skeleton Brothers_

Gabriola hugged her sons close to her body. Shouts were head through the house. Tempus was guarding the door to the room with a barrier of bones. Sounds of glass shattering, and doors being torn of their hinges were the noises of terror to the two children. A loud knock at the door startled the huddled family.

"Come out, Tempus! I know you killed that Pyrope, you sneaky bastard!" The door started to creak, and it exploded inwards in a series of splinters and chucks of wood. A wolf-like monster with outward fangs was revealed behind the broken clutter. Its black claws were outstretched and ready to kill.

Tempus charged his bone attacks and hurtled them at the wolf. "You've got the wrong guy, Smeak! I didn't kill them!"

The monster swung a massive arm at the bones, crushing them to powder. "Shut up, damn liar! You're the only doctor in the city! Who else would make those fucking pills?" The wolf sucked in some air, causing his chest cavity to swell to a grossly enormous size. He exhaled, unleashing a loud howl at the barrier of bones, shattering them with ear-piercing sound waves.

Tempus threw a barrage of bones defensively, but Smeak dodged all of the attacks with ease, slowly advancing forward towards the skeleton. The mass of silver fur lunged at Tempus, knocking them both to the ground. The wolf was atop of Tempus, and started to claw madly at the body beneath him.

Strings of cloth were ripped from Tempus' shirt, and soon spatters of blood speckled the ground. The father grit his teeth, feeling the claws grate against his chest bone. A sharpened bone from the skeleton stabbed its way into the thigh of the wolf, digging deep into muscle structures.

Smeak howled in pain, stopping his onslaught of claws. Tempus swirled the bone around inside of the wound, tangling the delicate tendons. The wolf hopped off of the skeleton, quickly ripping out the spear. He threw it to the ground angrily as Tempus staggered to get up. The front of his white collared shirt was ripped to pieces, revealing the shredded rib bones. Blood dripped downwards from rib to rib, and the vertebrae in the back were misaligned. Tempus couldn't take much more abuse.

An older sans and Papyrus struggled to see the battle beyond the body of their mother. Once the two siblings caught sight of their father, the older one squealed in horror, "dad! no, dad! RUN!"

Tempus took a glance to his son. It was a deadly mistake to take his eyes off of his enemy. The wolf took advantage and lurched once again at the skeleton, this time pinning his hands against the wall behind him. "You think you can get out of this, fucker? How about I kill your fucking family too? That's what that _Pyrope_ was to me! Will was my best friend, you asshole!"

Smeak opened his jaws wide and bit Tempus' neck. He crunched down hard on the bones, splitting them apart. The father tried to desperately poke out the eyes of the wolf, but nothing phased the angry monster. He felt himself disconnecting from his body, and felt nauseating dizziness.

Blood seeped into the wolf's mouth, and the head finally detached from the body. The skeletal frame fell to the ground and dissolved into dust. The blood dripping from the wolf's mouth dissolved into pale grey flakes. Smeak held up the head of Tempus in his massive jaws. The head disappeared into smoke, and the grey soul remained. The wolf grasped it and crushed the soul before it could shatter on its own.

Papyrus screamed and sans lost his voice out of fear. Gabriola turned her back to her children, shielding them from the intruder. A bead of sweat dripped from her skull. "Don't, Please! They're Just Kids!"

The wolf convulsed in dark laughter. "So what? I couldn't give two shits." He swayed his sharp claws at the tall skeleton, reaching for her ribcage.

Gabriola held up her arms in defense. " _Don't Ever Hurt My KIDS_!" Bright orbs of light materialized on her sides. She took them into her hands and threw them into Smeak's face, burning the fur and flesh before he could land a hit on her. The nasty smell of burnt skin filled the wolf's sensitive nose, and he wiped away the charred fur off his cheek, completely ignoring her attack. He growled and boldly grabbed Gabriola by the arms, catapulting her against the opposite wall of the dark room. Sickening cracks of bone resounded echoed, and the wolf tackled her body on the ground, holding her steady with a palm on her sternum.

"Fucking bitch, you think you can help your little brats?" Smeak took hold of Gabriola's left femur bone in his mouth, and briskly twitched his head to the right, dislocating the bone from its socket. She threw her head back in pain and screamed. The wolf crunched down on the bone in his mouth, breaking it into two. Blood dribbled out from the cracks, and blue magic escaped from within.

The monster turned back to see the kids huddled in the corner of the room, watching in horror as their mother was dismembered. "I'm getting you next, little fucks!" Smeak turned his attention back to the screaming skeleton. She flailed her fists at his face, but he opened his maw to snap at her wrists, successfully capturing her right wrist. With another twitch he tore her right arm off at the elbow. More crimson and blue oozed out from the wound.

Smeak grabbed her head in his large jaw and pulled upwards, stretching the vertebrae until they popped out. Her screaming head was held up in front of the children with his free arm. The body dissolved in smoke. The severed head screeched out final words to her children.

"RUN! _RUN_!"

But they couldn't move, paralyzed in fear. Tears spilled from their eyes as they watched the wolf chomp down on their mother's skull, breaking it into pieces. The soul that came out from the remaining blue smoke was also crushed with black, clawed hands.

Smeak slowly glared at the two children, intimidating them with his massive size. "I don't care if you're kids," he growled, slowly walking towards the two young monsters. "The cops are coming to kill me, and I might as well bring you two down with me. Maybe that way we can escape the Underground together, even if it's in death." He cackled, brandishing his claws at the two.

Suddenly a shot of blue fire slammed onto his back. Kaftós came in, blazing hot and ready to protect sans and Papyrus. He rammed into the wolf, shoving the monster to the wall. The fire elemental's heat radiated in the room, burning hot all over the wolf's fur. He grunted, squeezing the other monster's throat with all his strength. "Get out of here!" he yelled to the two siblings in the corner.

The savior had snapped sans out of his paralysis, and he grabbed Papyrus' hand. "come on, let's go!"

He ran out with his little brother, hopping past the broken debris of wood from the door. The house was tattered, glass lay everywhere, and the furniture was smashed. The two exited from the wide open front door, running out into the street. They stared back at the home with frightened expressions.

"Hey, come over here and get inside!" Grillby shouted from the door at his home. The brothers ran the front door and went inside. Grillby slammed the door and shot the bolt home. He pointed upstairs. "Let's go up there. We'll be safer if that monster comes over here."

The trio went up the stairs and onto the roof. Grillby had a few sandbags waiting on the top. Once they were all together, Grillby closed the hatch and placed the sandbags on the opening. sans and Papyrus ran over to the edge, looking at their home. A group of police monsters were already closing into the abode, with long distance magic ready to shoot. One that looked like the chief went in first, followed by the others.

The children were watching expectantly. The sound of a firing magic beam hit their ears. An explosion went off in the home, and some of the police officers were knocked back outside. The wolf came out, roaring at the attackers. His flesh was burned severely around the neck area, and almost all of his fur was singed. An officer that resembled a black dragon ran out with Kaftós' body. His flames were low, and his blue body burned weakly. The officer tried to run past the wolf, but was stopped when he body slammed him.

Smeak grabbed both of their bodies, lifting and slamming them into the ground repeatedly with burned hands. Grillby yelled for his father, but Kaftós couldn't respond. His flames started to fizzle out slowly. The other officers were now shooting beams of light and spears at the wolf, while a few came together and tackled him down. A female dog officer produced a small radio from her uniform. "Code 8, code 30, we need backup!"

The wolf snarled as the other officers dragged him to the ground, they tried shoving a spear into his side, but Smeak threw the fire elemental in the way. The spear didn't go through. Instead, it hit Kaftó's soul. He yelled in pain before quickly dissolving into dust.

Grillby screamed as loud as he could muster, seeing his father die right before his eyes. The dust powdered the wolf, and he took a handful of it to throw in the officers' faces.

Smeak used the distraction to get up and run. A cloaked police person ran after the wolf with a magic sword in hand. They caught up to the injured monster, yelling as they thrust the sword into the wolf's back.

The criminal growled with pain, sword sticking out of his chest. Black blood coated the glistening blade thickly. The cloaked police person heaved upwards, slicing the wolf's upper body in half. Smeak fell lifelessly to the ground, both halves of his body split apart. The body dissolved unceremoniously after a few seconds.

The female police officer started relaying information over the radio. sans' eyes stared blankly at the dust left behind by the wolf. Papyrus was sobbing, and Grillby was gripping the cement wall of the roof's edge.

"This was _the worst day of my life…"_

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

 _Current Day_

The skeleton was staring blankly at the carpet, like he had stared at the wolf's dust. His grin drooped. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "after that, me, pap, and grillbz moved to the orphanage in the city. that place was the worst."

Frisk shivered in their own memories, balling their fists. The human shoved the memories aside and looked at the skeleton just standing in front of the television. The screen was still a picture of sans' mother.

They got off the couch and walked over to sans. Frisk wrapped their arms around the still skeleton, hugging him tightly, showing their compassion in the only way they knew how. sans let his head fall on Frisk's shoulder.

"thanks, frisk. i guess now you know why i'm so protective of pap. he's all i got left." sans put his arms around Frisk and hugged the human back. They parted and sans' grin returned. "it's alright now. we get to live out of this hole in the ground, away from the city of new home. pap and i can start a new life up there, just like we did here in snowdin."

Frisk smiled and nodded. A thought rushed to their mind, and they looked at their phone. It was already late. Toriel must have cooked dinner a long time ago. "I have to go. Toriel said she was going to make dinner. Sorry."

sans shook his head. "nah, don't worry 'bout it. pap will be home soon. well, at least he better be, or imma drag his ass here. see ya tomorrow then?"

The human smiled. "Of course." They opened the door to the cabin. "Goodnight!" The skeleton waved in goodbye as Frisk left the house.

It was dark outside of the home. Not unusual, since at night the Underground shut off their magic lamps, and all that was left was the luminescence of the cave ceiling. Frisk started to head off in the direction of the ruins. It was going to be a long walk, but they didn't mind.

Grillby's was still alight with commotion. Cheering and celebratory shouting could be heard from the windows. Frisk smiled and walked on ahead, passing the inn and shop. They crossed the long bridge as it swayed slowly. The dark chasm below didn't deter the human one bit.

After a while of walking through the dense snow, passing the dog's station, they arrived at the first place they had met Papyrus. The conveniently-shaped lamp was still there. It had developed frost on the lampshade. Frisk hugged themselves. Why was it colder than usual?

The snow crunched delightfully beneath their feet. Now the long stretch of woods was ahead of them. The entrance to the Ruins was so close. They picked up the pace.

 _Crunch._

Frisk heard snow rustling behind them. The human stopped dead in their tracks. The darkness swallowed them. Frisk held their breath to focus on the noise behind them.

 _Swish._

Someone was behind Frisk. The creeping sense of lurking eyes tickled Frisk's spine. It was as if the human felt ghost fingers stroking their back. They decided to start running through the snow, away from whatever was following them.

Sure enough, the swooshing sounds got faster. The human struggled to run in the deep snow, having to pick their knees up higher to get along. Frisk lost their footing and tumbled face-first into the white powder.

' _Just like before.'_ Frisk thought as their body was covered in snow. They felt a sense of Deja-Vu, as if something like this had happened before. The human quickly got to their feet, dusting the snow off. They faced the ruins and their blood pumped hard. _'This is the part… Where I turn around.'_

Frisk slowly turned their head to look in the opposite direction. A shadow of a flower was in the distance. The human almost sighed in relief, it was just Flowey! …but then they looked _beyond_ the flower.

A familiar silhouette of a man was further back from the first figure. A dark cloak and white, smiling face shone in whatever light was available. Frisk's heart skipped a beat. Swirling images of blood and guts spilling from their body came to their mind. Familiar, dark, maniacal laughter rang in the human's head, sounding like it came from all directions.

The human doubled over, grasping their stomach. Nausea flashed in waves along their flesh. They cringed and shakily looked back up at the two figures. The flower silhouette had suddenly vanished and left the haunting figure of the man. He was hovering towards Frisk slowly.

Frisk tried to ignore the discomfort from their insides. They staggered in the snow, stomach reeling. The Ruins seemed so far away at the moment, and the everlasting pain kept growing stronger. After achieving a few feet of distance Frisk desperately looked back to see where the man was.

A black, crooked smile appeared inches from Frisk's face. The human flinched into the cold, wet snow, yelling in surprise. The man cackled amusingly, his white, cracked face glinting in the weak light.

" _Oh dear,_ Frisk. _I see you've managed to keep your little mouth shut,"_ His smooth voice purred. _"Good. Now, listen up, human. I only came because I'm looking for Flowey."_ He smiled wider, as if in frustration. _"Tell that stupid_ flower _to come meet me. He knows where to find me. I've been chasing him for a while, but he keeps running away. Such a pain, really."_ He looked away for a moment, almost expecting to find Flowey on the ground right beside him.

Frisk started to back away slowly, getting up from the freezing ground. The cloaked man held up a white hand. " _Wait just a moment,_ Frisky. _Remember what I said about telling someone about me? If you do… I'll make sure to pull those gorgeous little red streamers from your body."_ The man took a step back, and vanished.

Frisk ran all the way to the entrance of the Ruins, forcing their legs to go through the powder, mind empty and focused. The snow gave way underneath their feet, leaving cold trenches behind them. Once Frisk passed the stone arches of the Ruins, they began to slow down. The human jogged through the open doors and to the basement steps of Toriel's home. Frisk put their arms behind their head, panting heavily. They felt an odd pang of worry inside. " _Why… Why was I running?"_

"That guy is creepy." A voice behind Frisk stated. "I don't like him."

The human turned to see Flowey in the cold, paved ground.

The flower looked up at Frisk. "I don't know what he wants from me."

"What… What guy?" Frisk asked with a confused expression. Why were they so tired? Were they running? It felt like they missed something important. When did they end up in the Ruins?

Flowey narrowed his eyes, searching the human's eyes. "That creep. He's coated you with memory magic. But I think it's better this way." He smiled delightfully, almost taunting.

Frisk rose and eyebrow. "What? What happened, Asriel?" They didn't like that smile of his.

The flower stared back blankly. "Don't call me that. Toriel could hear you."

Frisk knelt down to Flowey's level. "But I think of you as Asriel now… Anyways, tell me what happened?"

"No. If I do, that guy will probably kill you if you told someone. Just forget about it."

Frisk furrowed their brows, "This is important, Asrie-"

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT," The flower hissed. "Really, you should go. That creep won't show up if you're with Toriel." Flowey burrowed back into the ground, settling the pavement cracks in a way that made it seem as if the flower were never there.

Frisk sulked a little before standing up. Someone wanted them dead? _'And Flowey isn't malicious like he usually is.'_

The human absentmindedly walked up the stairs. The salty smell of food hit their nose right away. They went into the living room where Toriel sat in a large chair, reading her book about snails. She was almost finished with it.

Toriel looked up from her book to see Frisk walk in. She quickly put it to the side of the armchair and folded her glasses to put them in her pocket. "Hello my dear child! I thought you might spend a little time over with sans, so I made the dinner a little later. Sit down at the table so we can eat together!" The goat rose from her seat right away to step into the kitchen.

Frisk went to sit in one of the wooden chairs. The wood creaked softly underneath them. They admired the quaint floral decoration on it. Daisies and Camelia blossoms. The human stared at the red color of the petals, and lost themselves in thought for a moment. " _What happened after I left sans' house…"_ They assured themselves that what had transpired wasn't good. Flowey's explanation was vague, and left the human with worry and a tinge of fear.

They didn't notice the giant bowl of soup being set down in front of their face. Toriel tilted her head to look into Frisk's blank eyes. "Are you alright, my child? Is there something wrong?"

Frisk gasped and whipped their head to Toriel's worried expression. They shook their head and shined a faux smile. "No, I'm fine! Just looking at the pretty flowers!" What a bad liar they were!

The human's goat mother grinned fondly. "Anxious for the next week? I am as well!" She sat down at the chair to the right of Frisk, where she had set her own bowl down.

Frisk looked at the light red soup. Bubbles of fat formed at the top, and soft potatoes were floating in the warm broth. The spoon at the edge of the dish waited for the human to grab it.

"It is chunky tomato potato soup!" Toriel spoke up. "It certainly will not be like the food at the Mayor's house, but I am sure you will enjoy it!"

After her explanation, Frisk happily took their utensil in hand and savored the delicious meal. It was amazingly creamy, the celery and carrots it had in it were soft and flavorful. They finished the first bowl within minutes, asking for seconds right away.

Toriel smiled to herself in the kitchen, refilling both of their bowls. Things were looking bright in the Underground. Now for the next week of _hell_.

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

 _Alphys' Lab_

Alphys sat in front of her large monitor, clutching a spiral notebook in her clawed hands. She hit the replay button on the edge of her keyboard to watch the scene play out before her for the third time. Her hands shook wildly in anticipation as a stalky black figure whooshed on the monitor and loomed over her friend Frisk. The footage was a little fuzzy and out of focus, but a feature on the black man stood out that the scientist couldn't ignore. That white face! She _knew_ it from somewhere.

The dinosaur turned to look back at her bathroom door to check if Undyne was still in there. She didn't need to alert the Ex-Royal Guard. Alphys looked back at the screen and paused it before the dark figure disappeared into thin air. She looked hard at the shining white face. A couple of cracks ran down along the cheeks, and dark, soulless eyes loomed out from the glass. A striking sense of fear triggered and traveled along her spine. She felt as if the eyes were staring directly at her.

The yellow creature whipped her head behind her. No one was there. She passed her gaze back at the bathroom door. Nothing.

She sighed in relief, slowly turning her head back to the monitor.

Alphys' eyes met two dark pits in front of her, paired with the same white face she had seen on the screen. Her blood drained from her face, and she felt a cold shiver encompass her body. The black, smiling face of the man who haunted Frisk breathed on her, cold puffs of air hitting her cheeks making her skin rile in goosebumps.

She couldn't find her voice; Alphys couldn't scream. She only sank desperately into her office chair, vainly trying to retreat from the stalky figure that only inched closer the more she moved away. Time was in slow motion, and the dinosaur could _hear_ her ragged breaths accompanied by the breathing of the man. She wanted to turn around, look away, _and escape!_ But she couldn't as the eye pits of the figure bore deep into her soul.

" _Alphys,"_ came the soothing, yet disturbing voice from black cracked lips. " _Why don't you forget our little encounter? In fact, forget that your ever saw this video, and delete it from all your data files."_

She couldn't believe it. Her mind swirled, and a drop of nausea fell into her stomach. Alphys shook in fear, trying to remember where she had seen a face like his.

" _Trying to remember me, are we? There's no time for that at the moment. Just relax and delete that video."_ He moved aside to reveal the keyboard to the monitor, even though his thin frame hardly warranted the motion. Alphys only stared at the keys, unable to make a move to touch one. Then she scanned the letters, and mentally spelled out the man's name. ' _That's it!'_ She found the answer.

"W. D. Gaster, the old Royal Scientist." Alphys spoke perfectly, almost dully as she remembered the creator of the CORE. She fearlessly stared into his face. "That's you, isn't it?"

The smile on Gaster's face twitched downwards, a scowl subtly showing on his shiny face. This encounter was not going as previously planned…

\\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/

Edited Lovingly by Miss Sleep


End file.
